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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23210803">Letters To Juliet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devilinureye/pseuds/Devilinureye'>Devilinureye</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>DamiRae - Freeform, Demonbirds - Freeform, F/M, Fluff and Angst, No porn but, Who Knows?, inspired by romcom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:41:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23210803</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devilinureye/pseuds/Devilinureye</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On a trip to Italy with her busy fiance, a young woman named Raven visits a wall where the disillusioned leave letters to Shakespeare's tragic heroine, Juliet Capuleto. Hidden in one of the stones on the wall, she finds an old letter from a Romeo looking for looking for help with his beloved Juliet and decides to help Alfred, the kind man who wrote the letter in the 1960s, in his search for the love of his youth, Esme Winikus. Involved with the story and the mission to unite the couple after more than 50 years, Raven discovers that Alfred will not be the only one to find his true love.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Raven/Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: Sir Robert Smith</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>30 Day Writing Challenge - April 2020 Week 1<br/>Romeo and Juliet - The Killers<br/>Inspired by the movie: Letters to Juliet (2010)<br/>Directed by Gary Winick</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>
    <b>Metropolis</b>
  </i>
</p><p>The day felt like one of those in romantic movies. The sound of birds singing, the voice of lively conversations at restaurant tables, music talking about Romeo and Juliet somewhere.</p><p>Raven walked to her lunch break watching the small movement of people and cars on busy Market Street. People rushing to get their Valentine's Day gifts at the last minute, the smell of romance in the air. Until her moment of observation was interrupted by the irritating sound of her professional telephone. Not even during her lunch break, did Raven get rid of the "Mr. Smiths"</p><p>- "This is Raven, from Daily Planet... Hi Mr. Smith... Thank you so much for returning the call... No... I'm not a writer... I just check facts to find out if they were true... Yeah much like being a private detective, but from historical photographs..." - Raven smiled, looking at the image in front of her. It was the 30th call she received to try to find Mr. Robert Smith present in the photo of <i>The Kiss from Hotel Ville</i>, by <i>Robert Doisneau</i> - "Let's see if you are the Robert Smith I'm looking for, hm... Can you confirm if by chance Were you in Paris in 1950? Ah... Did you never go to Paris? Ah yes... No, unfortunately it's not who I am looking for... But, thank you very much for your attention Mr. Smith..." - Raven snorted by hanging up the phone, walking back to Market Street, she had already lost count of how many Robert Smiths she had talked to, but each time she received a negative answer, her list and time seemed too short.</p><p>Not that she still had time, she needed to check out that photo before the Valentine's Day article came out and apparently, all the Robert Smiths in the country hadn't traveled to Paris in the 1950s, let alone witnessed a kiss scene romantic couple at Hotel Ville.</p><p>Which put all her work to square one and that was very frustrating.</p><p>She didn't want to take this job on her trip... She had other plans for her trip to Italy, and did't involve any gentleman named Robert or Smith in this. Raven snorted, looking at the phone screen as it vibrated again.</p><p>- "Raven?"</p><p>- "Lois? Hi..."</p><p>- "How's checking the photo of Doisneau?"</p><p>- "No success yet, but there are two more Roberts on the list..."</p><p>- "Okay, but I need you to speed up, Rae... I need this article in the newspaper next Saturday..."</p><p>- "No problem, I'll finish this today, no need to worry..."</p><p>- "You're the best, Raven... Go get him, girl..."</p><p>- "Okay, Lois... - Raven smiled and looked at the phone screen again, another call waiting... <i>Would it ever end</i>? - "I'll talk to you later, another Robert Smith on the line....</p><p>- "Okay, come straight to my room when you're done... The lovers of all Metropolis, Gotham and Star City depend on you..." - Raven rolled her eyes and said goodbye to hdd beloved and sometimes obsessive chief editor.</p><p>Lois Lane was a good boss for Raven, she believed in her at first, as soon as Raven finished his journalism course and treated her like a pupil and almost daughter. She had taught Raven tricks to achieve truthfulness and Raven was grateful for that.</p><p>But as Clark Kent, her husband and also a journalist, said: Lois was hungry for a well-made story and looking for the truth... If there was something to be reported, if there was something to be discovered, she was there with Jimmy, Raven and Clark on her back... That's how she won two Pulitzers, and that's how she won a position of trust in Metropolis's leading newspaper, the Daily Planet. And that was how Raven wanted to follow in Lois's footsteps.</p><p>There were times when she could be a nightmare. Especially when the subject was a special story. During this time, Lois called Raven every hour and a half to ask if Raven found the photo to be true. She is already on the verge of an attack just by hearing the ringtone.</p><p>But thank you gods for the vacation, and for the amazing 15 days in Verona, with her fiance <i>Tommy Torres</i>, without Smiths, without work, without a phone ringing.</p><p>Just good food, good music and a whole romance for her and Tommy.</p><p>Raven met Tommy when he was still in high school, they got together, became friends and later, lovers. Raven looked for a journalism career and Tommy went to her side, looking more and more for the best type of photography career he could have.</p><p>7 months ago, after 4 months living together, Tommy proposed to her. Nothing much, nothing that mixes newspaper headlines, nothing that stops metropolis and does like people running and filming... Tommy asked Raven to marry him almost as if asking <i>"was the shower good?"<i> when she prepares to sleep, because he would travel for months to another country but that made Raven happy. She never imagined getting married, and now, she was about to go for a pre honeymoon.</i></i></p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Even if at times, Tommy seemed a little... <i>Disconnected</i>... from the relationship.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Raven took a deep breath and answered a waiting call, becoming frustrated once again to discover that the man or the other end of the line wasn't the one looking for the what seemed like the thousandth time. Now only one more list is missing and she must work on that last name on Roberts' list right on her lunch break.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Raven growled, crossing the penultimate name on the list, she couldn't give up, not now that only one name was missing from the list... She never gave up. She would find the man in that picture even if she needed to call every Robert Smith on Earth.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>She didn't have time for this, but she could do...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Good afternoon, Mr. Smith... My name is Raven Roth, I'm a Daily Planet fact checker... Could you answer me if you were at the Hotel Ville in Paris, during a spring, in the 50s?" - A pause and a relieved smile appeared on Raven's lips - "Mr Smith, I thought I would never meet you, yes... Look, you were in a very important photo taken at that time, am I right?  A photo by photographer Doisneau, do you remember?" - Another pause - "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you, Mr. Smith... Can you answer one more question? When you were leaving, can you describe exactly what you saw? Was the kiss spontaneous or staged?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>________________________________________________________________________________</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Here it is, Lois..." - Raven grunted handing his work to Lois Lane - "Checked, reviewed ready to be included in the special Valentine's Day post on Saturday, as I promised..." - Lois quickly read the entire article delivered by Raven in a matter of seconds and then looked at the girl standing in front of her, her eyes with a manic gleam, and a satisfied smile forming on her lips - "I added some notes on what Mr. Smith and Mr. Jacques's family said... You can use it in the story..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Are you sure?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "The then passionate student of arts, Robert Smith, was at the Hotel Ville on March 24, 1950 getting ready to leave for his class when he was surprised with a couple kissing in what seemed to be a passionate farewell... But everything was staged by the photographer who wanted to show love in different ways around the world as a celebration of true love after the war for the magazine that hired him..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Did he tell you that himself?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Exactly..." - Raven smiled adjusting her glasses - "Confirming the information we had that Doisneau had said that it was all just an act..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "And the couple?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Françoise Bornet and Jacques Carteaud didn't get married... Jacques became a winemaker until 2004, when he died in the south of France..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Are you sure?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I'm sure, Lois... Françoise even auctioned her original copy for 20 thousand euros, bought by an anonymous Swiss collector in 2005..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Look, you know I hardly do this kind of story but... You were amazing, Raven..." - She smiled contentedly - "You outdid yourself... We can use parts of your article to do the story... Along with your other checks... We'll give you all the credit, girl... This time, you deserved it... People want to believe in true love, let's give them some of that..." - Raven smiled, seeing the opportunity to ask for a promotion to open up to her.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Raven loved her job and she liked to hear the stories behind all the pictures she checked. But years in journalism college weren't made to look around for Mr. Smiths to find out the truth of a kiss. She wanted to go to the newsroom, wanted to write... Raven wanted to have her own words thrown in the wind on the pages of a newspaper, not just to be getting calls.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Speaking of true love..." - Lois said with a smile - "I heard about your pre honeymoon trip to Verona tomorrow... Explain to me how someone does a pre honeymoon...?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Ahnn... It's just a vacation before the wedding... It's our last chance to be alone before Tommy takes the intensive photography course in Paris..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Well... You know my opinion about Tommy..." - Lois shrugged - "It surprises me that you are going to marry someone who sincerely loves his photos and cameras more than you, but... You go to the city of love... Make it work!" - Lois smiled - "And if it doesn't work out, I don't need to remind you that I have a son and a stepson who need a girlfriend... You know where to find them with their dirty shirts sweat in the middle of the cornfield in Kansas..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay Lois... Thank you so much for the wedding congratulations..." - Raven grunted rolling her eyes. Lois smiled and organized the files that Raven had handed her. The woman didn't miss the opportunity to push her two children to Raven. Jonathan and Conner were two good kids, but Lois was like a matchmaking mother, almost a nightmare. Raven rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject.<br/>
If she didn't change the subject, she knew how Lois could make any situation embarrassing...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Anyway... Who knows, Raven..." - She wrinkled her nose - "Great choice of destination... And good job, again... Good trip for you and your fiance..." - Lois murmured smiling as he picked up the phone about to enter a number.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>Go Raven... It's now or never...</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "But... I've been thinking..." - Raven took a deep breath - "What if while I'm there... I write an article? A story just for the next month, any subject... I know there is a vacancy available for a writer and I know I may be asking a lot but... I don't want to be looking for truths for other people to write... I just... I just need an opportunity..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Look, you're a great fact checker, Raven... The best we have..." - Lois raised an eyebrow</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I appreciate it... But... Lois, I want to be a journalist... I want to write..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I get i ... And really, there is a vacancy for the editorial and we really don't think anyone is good enough to fill..." - Lois tapped his pencil on his forehead - "You know I can't sign, right? I'm your boss but Perry is still the big boss.... But, as you were brave, you are competent and someone of my complete and total confidence as well as my pupil and a great writer... I can give you a chance to convince me..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "What?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I am not the big boss Raven... But I have two pulitzers... I can convince... I will give you a chance to show me that you are capable of being an excellent checker and writer..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Really? Oh God..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Bring me a good story from Verona... A <i>real</i> story with <i>real</i> people... Something that is inspiring, that is good and that makes me sigh..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Are you serious, Lois?" - Raven laughed without believing - "About... What do you want me to write about?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Anything... Fashion, entertainment, gastronomy, culture... Anything... I just want it to be something really good" - Lois shrugged - "If it's good enough, the job is yours..." - Lois raised an eyebrow - "Promotion is not guaranteed, but it is an opportunity..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "It's enough, Lois... I promise I'll do my best..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay... But you will not forget your pre honeymoon, girl..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay... Oh my god..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Now go... I don't want to have to pay overtime..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "You know I deserve..." - Raven grunted laughing, taking her bag</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Good trip Raven... May you return in need of a vacation on the Kent farm..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Thank you so much for the encouragement, Lois Lane..." - Raven rolled her eyes and walked out of her boss's office, smiling. SShe knew that Lois did not make this kind of comment out of malice, it was just Lois Lane being Lois Lane... The matchmaking mother who wanted at all costs to push her children to the first girl she considered worthy. She was one of those girls, she had already lost count of how many times Lois had tried to make her fall madly in love with one of her tall, strong, dark-haired and blue-eyed children.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Raven walked down the hall thinking about all the things she still needed to organize before bed, the flight would be early in the morning and she was pretty sure Tommy would be concerned with packing his thousands of lenses and cameras...She would have to make him choose one, she wouldn't forbid him from taking pictures, but she didn't want it to become a business trip.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Who does a honeymoon in Verona without a wedding?? Only you and your high school sweetheart..." - Kory murmured in Raven's ear, making the girl startle and jump - "How lucky you are... Despite marrying with your first boyfriend..." - Kory Anders was Raven's best friend and had also joined the <i>"anti-Tommy"</i> group along with Lois Lane. The tall, golden-skinned girl with long, fiery hair and leafy green eyes in spring was responsible for an entire column on fashion and culture on the Daily Planet.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>She thought that Raven was being too hasty in accepting to marry Tommy just because he was going to another country in a few months. She believed that Raven should know other people before making such an important decision and she thought that Raven was just afraid that Tommy would do that in Paris and leave her alone in Metropolis. And in parts, Raven sometimes found herself agreeing with her. Raven was afraid that Tommy would meet someone in Paris and leave her, after years of dating someone, she was afraid of being alone again. And she was very afraid of being rash, Tommy had been her first crush, her first boyfriend, her first fuck and now she would be her husband in a few weeks... She didn't want to think she was making the wrong decision.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Especially when Tommy was sometimes more of a roommate than a boyfriend... Raven didn't remember when it was the last time they just were together alone or when it was the last time Tommy kissed her in a way that left her breathless...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>But she still liked him... And a lot...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Kory said it was too soon for Raven to just say yes and get married, but she knew that her friend was, inside the shell of disinterested, a hopeless romantic...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>But she didn't think the same about Tommy</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Oh Kory... Fuck" - Raven grunted with her hand on her chest trying to make her breathing return to normal - "Hm..." - Raven took a deep breath - "Hm... Well, if I don't startle by then with you by my side , in 7 weeks Tommy will go to Paris and I will not be able to see him for a few months, so this is our last chance..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Hm... Understandable..." - Kory raised her eyebrow, walking next to Raven - "We are going to a pub to have a drink, will you?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "No, I still have some things to organize... The flight is early tomorrow and I don't want to forget anything or have a hangover and jet lag..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Of course... But a piece of advice, birdie... Make this trip an evaluation... Don't let him pay attention to anything but you... If necessary, throw his cameras in the ocean..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "He throws himself out of the plane with them, believe me..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Raven..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Relax, Kory... It will be great..." - Raven smiled, walking towards the taxi - "I send you a postcard..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay... take care girl... And no work okay? It's vacation..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay Kory... Thank you... See you in 15 days..." - Raven smiled and got into the taxi, waving to Kory as she told the driver to head home.The small apartment she and Tommy shared in the center of Metropolis. Raven loved her small but cozy and flowery resting place, she had all of her favorite things there, she saw no reason to move to something bigger, although Tommy always insisted that they needed a place where he could develop his photos without outside light, but Raven also knew that if he had a studio, she would see him only for Christmas... Even though she couldn't bear to come home tired and just wanting to think about a good shower and a good procrastination in front of the TV and everything being out of place with red lights.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>And as she expected, the house was in complete darkness, even though the sun hadn't fully set outside, Raven tripped over some things until she reached the only source of light, a red one in their room.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Oh my God..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Hi...!" - Tommy tilted his head to the side to watch Raven standing at the doorframe - "Don't turn on the light and... Close your eyes... Close your pretty blue eyes..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "It's not like I'm seeing anything here..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Close your eyes, Rae..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay..." - Raven smiled crossing her arms over her chest while closing her eyes - "Eyes closed..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Okay... Okay..." - Raven felt him walking towards her - "You can open your eyes now..." - Raven opened slowly and found a smiling Tommy holding a photo of what seemed to be the sunset of Metropolis Bay and a blurred couple kissing - "Did you like it? Yes? No? Maybe? Yes?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Sure... It's all red but..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I'm going to put this photo in my portfolio... I didn't even believe it when I saw the quality of it... It's amazing how one angle can change everything... Being modest I think I created a masterpiece...!"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Just tell me if the couple was spontaneous when they became famous... I don't want to have to check facts and look wildly for them" - Raven grunted laughing</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "There is another picture that was perfect, it is of a little girl and"- Tommy ran through the countless photos hanging on the clotheslines</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Tommy..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Hmm... Where's that photo?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Tommy..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Where is it....? Not this one... Ah... Here it is..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Tommy...."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Look... It's this picture here, see..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Tommy, can I say something?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Hmm...?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "We are going to travel in 12 hours and you didn't pack your bags for Verona, except to pack a camera... And we definitely need to eat and sleep... And I need to take a shower... So..." - Raven crossed his arms trying to look seriously at the boy - "Our room is a mess"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>For a brief moment, he watched her and then he dropped the photos and ran over to her, gently holding Raven's arms with a sweet smile on his lips.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Oh... It's true... You're right, I need to pack ..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Great..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I'm sorry, babe... I ended up wasting my time while developing these photos I completely forgot to pack my bags... You're right..." - He stroked Raven's face with his thumb</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Aren't you going to keep that?" - Raven pointed to the photography equipment - "Everything like that? Scattered around our room?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "No need to worry, you take a shower and I organize it all and pack my bags" - He smiled, placing a light kiss on Raven's forehead before picking her up and turning - "Arrivederci Metropolis... Ciao bella Verona!"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Tommy! My glasses" - Raven murmured laughing as she held Tommy's neck, her legs hooked around the boy's waist.</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Leave them alone... Leave everything alone... Tomorrow, it will be just us and Verona..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "I know..." - Raven smiled, letting Tommy kiss her while still spinning under a reddish light until they fell on the bed - "And I'm so excited!" - Raven murmured, sliding her fingertip over Tommy's jaw - "But my glasses need to be whole..."</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>- "Did I say how sexy you look with those glasses?"</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>Raven smiled, letting Tommy place a light kiss on her lips. She had no doubt, it would be incredible...</i>
  </i>
</p><p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>It had to be incredible.</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2: Verona</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>
    <b>Verona</b>
  </i>
</p><p>The bells rang early in the most romantic city that Raven had ever known in her life. Everything in that place inspired her and she felt that at any moment she could run into some romantic scene in a cliché film. The land of one of the greatest romantic tragedies ever written was charming at its best and Raven felt it in her veins the moment her feet stepped on Italian soil.</p><p>Verona was beautiful with its old houses and the Adige River always running in its cycle. Raven didn't want to waste a second in that city, she wanted to know every inch of it, get lost in its cobbled streets and its sounds and smells. It was the first time in ages that she didn't have to worry about work done or if she still had to worry about something important other than the sound of life coming from all over the city.</p><p>There was so much to explore, so much life going on that Raven almost didn't want to sleep when they arrived on the trip, she wanted to know everything but, jet lag hit her hard and the first day was just for travel sickness medication and long hours of sleep.</p><p>Raven hated air travel...</p><p>She just hated it.</p><p>Raven woke up the next day ready to get to know as much as she could of the place, she used a map and her rusty Italian to visit bridges, tourist spots, fairs and cafes... Everything was so beautiful that it hurt, it was as if she be in another era, another universe... A universe where girls fell in love with boys from rival families and fairies.</p><p>Tommy didn't want to wake up anytime soon, he grunted when Raven had said she was going to be a tourist in town and decided not to insist... He would leave a note somewhere telling him where she had gone... But she doubted she would return and find him awake. Tommy didn't work well before lunchtime and she knew that most of the time, she didn't either... But Verona's air made her wake up with the chickens... Or maybe it was the fact that she was used to getting up early and get stuffed with caffeine while playing the Daily Planet private eye.</p><p>Everyone was so excited in this city that Raven lost count of how many times she was asked to draw or how many times she heard a <i>"hey bella americana, look here"</i> by some Italian. It was so different from what she was used to, people walking fast and barely apologizing when they bumped into Metropolises...</p><p>Raven could get used to it, she could definitely get used to it.</p><p>Raven walked through several streets until almost lunchtime, when she decided to return to the cozy and familiar hotel where she and Tommy were staying, meeting him on a balcony hanging from the phone. Raven should have taken Kory's advice and thrown that thing into the ocean... She just hoped that he was talking to the parents who had arrived well.Tommy looked at Raven standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking at him and smiled widely as if he had seen the light of his day before he started shouting her name across Verona.</p><p>- "Raven...! Raven..." - Raven shook her head smiling, biting her bottom lip as he waved one arm at her and with the other held the phone to his ear - "Where are you, mio dolce Raven?" - Raven rolled her eyes smiling before waving him down, she wanted to show him so many things that she didn't want to waste time on anything. And she didn't want to take the risk that Tommy would recite a whole Romeo and Juliet act to her with that busy street with people with cameras in their hands ready to shoot anything...</p><p>
  <i>Lois wouldn't let her out of this alive...</i>
</p><p>Tommy came out the door seconds later, wearing his old leather jacket, white shirt and jeans and his camera in one hand while still holding the phone in the other.</p><p>- "<i>I'll call you later, my fiancee is here... Yeah, I got engaged... Didn't I tell you?</i>" - He smiled and gave Raven a quick kiss on the cheek while holding her hand, walking towards the car - "<i>Bye</i>..." - He smiled and put the phone in his pocket, his eyes shining an animation that Raven had only seen once... When he received the letter of approval from the college in Paris - "This place is incredible... Seriously... It is incredible... I loved it!"</p><p>- "I know!" - Raven smiled leaning her head on his shoulder - "And I want to show you the most beautiful thing I found... It's a-"</p><p>- "Do you know what's most amazing?" - Tommy interrupted her, opening the car door for her to get in - "I just spoke with one of my college counselors and he's here... Can you believe it?"</p><p>- "Ahnn..."</p><p>- "And he organized a visit with some students to some wonderful places in Verona... !"- Raven opened her mouth but closed it again, crossing her arms... That was their honeymoon and he was planning to meet with... Teachers? - "The first place we go is the oldest and most wonderful vineyard in Veneto... He wants us to learn about art with living and dead things and... What?" - He raised an eyebrow looking at her, who probably did not have the face of the most lively in the world.</p><p>- "Tommy..."</p><p>- "No... Raven, stop, you don't understand..." - He walked over to her and held her shoulders as if asking for the least understanding - "Look, we're going to the oldest and most beautiful vineyard here... It's romantic, understand? I'm going to take some pictures, we are going to taste some wines, we were happy and drunk and you know... We came back here and..." - He smiled sideways, bending over to kiss Raven's jaw lightly, who just took a deep breath, defeated.</p><p>She was so excited about all of this, with all the things she had mapped out for them to do together that now she couldn't hide her frustration at having to spend a few hours sharing it with other people, but she was too tired to argue.</p><p>In fact, drinking wine for free wouldn't be the biggest problem, it just wasn't in her plans at the time.</p><p>- "Okay, Tommy... Let's go to that winery..."</p><p>- "I love you, you know, don't you?"</p><p>- "Yes, I know..." - Raven smiled giving him a kiss before getting back in the car.</p><p>All the way to their destination were flowery and tree-lined roads and Raven watched the landscape while listening to Tommy say how good that class would be and how much he would learn that day, without paying attention to what he was really talking about. She really had no interest in knowing photography techniques, it was enough that she heard it all during the journalism class.</p><p>- "So..." - Tommy's voice sounded somewhere in her mind, bringing her back to earth and whatever it was that Tommy-was-talking-about</p><p>- "Hm?"</p><p>- "Tell me... How was it?"</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "Raven are you on earth?"</p><p>- "I am Tommy... I'm sorry..." - Raven settled in the seat - "Hm... I tried to talk to Lois again about that promotion..."</p><p>- "And how it was?"</p><p>- "Hm ... She said about a lot of things about her not being able to hire and that she was not the big boss and etc..." - Raven shrugged</p><p>- "Oh really?"</p><p>- "But she said she will give me a chance and I can write something about Verona and if it is good, and she likes, the publishing job is mine..."</p><p>- "And you already know what you're going to write?"</p><p>- "Hm... No, I don't think I will write anything..."</p><p>- "Why?"</p><p>- "Because I'm afraid, Tommy..." - Raven shrugged - "What if I'm not as good as I think I am?"</p><p>- "Raven... You were the best of your class in what you did, what are you talking about?" - Tommy looked quickly at her, turning his attention back to the GPS - "You are good..."</p><p>- "I... I don't know..." - She took a deep breath</p><p>- "Listen to what I say, you will be a wonderful writer... Don't put yourself so low..." - Raven bit her bottom lip and nodded while letting her fingers slide through the lint of her pants.</p><p>- "I should stop checking facts and writing..."</p><p>- "Exactly, writing is your passion so write..."</p><p>- "I haven't found anything yet..."</p><p>- "You will find..." - He smiled - "Perhaps this visit to the vineyard wasn't so bad for you in the final... You will be able to use the time to write about the economy of the place..."</p><p>- "Yes, you are right..."</p><p>- "I'm always right..."</p><p>- "HAHAHA" - Raven rolled her eyes, crossing her legs on the car seat - "Shut up and drive Mr. Torres..."</p><p>- "Okay... Future Mrs. Torres..." - Raven smiled, watching Tommy give her knuckles a quick kiss before looking back at the road. He returned to holding the steering wheel with both hands and Raven began to observe the landscape again, watching the trees and flowers and clearings giving space for huge vine plantations, which were lost to the horizon.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath watching Tommy park the car in front of a big house, surrounded by flowers and trees, it was a beautiful house, it would certainly be a romantic walk if it weren't for all the other 6 cars parked nearby and the fact that Tommy almost had left Raven behind when he visualized his advisor, returning to put his arm around her shoulder just to say she was his fiancée.</p><p>Raven didn't feel good about being presented as a trophy that he had won, even though he said it was no problem, as she was the best prize he could win. Tommy held Raven's hand for the entire tour through the vines and barrels, but she didn't feel excited there in the middle of so many flashes.</p><p>Tommy talked to the supervisor about excited lights and angles and Raven just wanted to go home, her shoes weren't the right ones to walk in the mud, the long dress she was wearing was getting dirty and she wasn't at all excited about how should be to capture the essence of a grape...</p><p>Raven just took advantage of the wine tasting, maybe drinking a little alcohol would make that class she hadn't planned on becoming more interesting.</p><p>
  <i>"Relax Raven, tomorrow it will be you, Tommy and Verona"</i>
</p><p>It was the only thing she kept in mind each time Tommy dragged her to a different place day after day... First vineyard, then a farm that produced olive oil and in the end, Raven found herself in the middle of hundreds of cheeses and Tommy taking photos and more food photos.</p><p>He always promised that the next day would be different, that they would have a romantic night to just arrive at the hotel at the end of the day with tired Raven and Tommy editing pictures late at night on the computer.</p><p>She was exhausted, she no longer wanted to walk around waiting for Tommy to drop the camera or for the college advisor to just find another city to go and let Tommy be a fiance with her. There was so much in Verona and in 5 days, she had only walked from here to there seeing camera flashes, dead art and guidance on light and scenery. She couldn't even write her work... She sincerely doubted that people in Metropolis would sigh hearing about how a wine tasted like fresh fruit and flowers.</p><p>On the sixth day, Raven decided to talk about her planning for the next day, while Tommy dragged her into another of her classes with his favorite mentor. She had a feeling she would either speak, or spend the next 9 days watching her fiance take pictures of food.</p><p>- "Hm... We have to buy tickets for the opera... Before they run out..."</p><p>- "Erm... Of course..."</p><p>- "We can visit Castello Vecchio and Lake Garda... Ah! And we can go to Juliet's house too..."</p><p>- "Uhum... We will see it for sure..."</p><p>- "Tommy, are you even listening to what I'm saying?"</p><p>- "Of course I am, Raven... You are talking about places we can go..."</p><p>- "Exactly..." - Raven raised an eyebrow</p><p>- "But we can go to those places on another day, right? Another opportunity, right?"</p><p>- "Another opportunity?"</p><p>- "Yes... Look..." - He held her hands - "My advisor invited us to go to a forest some 120 km from here..." - He opened a smile - "Said it is a beautiful landscape with lighting perfect and-"</p><p>- "Wait, Tommy... 120 km?"</p><p>- "Yeah... But it's not like miles, Raven... Is-"</p><p>- "I know the difference... But I don't... I don't understand why you want to travel 120 km to enter the middle of a forest just for you to be photographing..."</p><p>- "It's not just photographing, Raven... It's nature too..."</p><p>- "Whatever..."</p><p>- "Ah... You are having nice days, Raven... What happened?"</p><p>- "I was having nice days" - Raven grunted wryly - "Look, it was cool, but now to be very honest I don't want to go inside a forest just to see more trees and your teacher talking about light... We've done it for six days..."</p><p>- "Okay... Okay... Fine... I understand..." - Tommy became serious and Raven took a deep breath. It was their pre honeymoon, she didn't want them to fight over it... And she knew Tommy, he would tell her forever about the missed opportunity - "Let's go to the hotel then..."</p><p>- "Okay..." - Raven took a deep breath as Tommy wrapped his arms around Raven's shoulder, visibly upset. Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly - "Look... On second thought... Why don't you go to this class in the forest alone while I see places in Verona?"</p><p>- "It may be, but... Will you accept doing this alone? Because there is no problem for me, I can reschedule this visit..."</p><p>- "Of course, Tommy... I can perfectly walk alone in a city, I will not die for that..."</p><p>- "Ok... It could be..." - He smiled - "I loved the idea... So, everyone wins..."</p><p>- "Exactly..."</p><p>- "Okay, I'll let Mr. Johns know and take you back to the hotel... Okay?" - Raven closed her eyes and nodded yes, walking around Verona alone on her honeymoon didn't seem so bad compared to walking through the mud listening about colors and the importance of having your own identity in the photograph.</p><p>Raven remained silent all the way back to town, unwilling to say what he thought because she honestly didn't want to fight Tommy for something she considered bullshit. He accepted so quickly to go alone that Raven felt strange, rejected. She didn't want to fight about it, she was sure it was just her paranoia and the fear of being alone that made her think like that ... Tommy loved her, right? He was with her since she was a silly little girl from high school, he was just thinking of a way for everyone to be happy ... He was thinking about her happiness, right?</p><p>He was happy and that was good, she would find something to do as well while he was away.</p><p>When the car stopped in front of the hotel, Tommy kissed Raven so quickly that she wondered if his lips even reached hers before saying a quick "I love you" and driving the car down the path they came from.</p><p>Raven spent a few seconds looking at where the car had started, trying to silence the voices of Kory and Lois in his head... It was just paranoia, she would be happy with Tommy... Their honeymoon would still happen, they would have a happy life after that and she as a good companion should support him in the same way that he supported her ... Because they loved each other, a pure and youthful love...</p><p>At least it was what she expected...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3: Juliet's secretaries</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raven took a deep breath and shook her head.She couldn't let herself be swallowed by paranoia, Tommy was just excited about something about his future. A future that would be hers too. There was no reason to think differently, there was no reason for her to think that their love had stayed in the past.</p><p>This was just unfounded fears, she didn't want that.</p><p>She could do some things on her list without Tommy, she didn't need him on her side to buy tickets for the opera and he would definitely see Castello Vecchio or Lake Garda afterwards... And sure enough, Tommy couldn't find little fun to visit Juliet's house...</p><p>This was Raven's tour, not his.</p><p>Raven did all the things on her list by herself and was happy to be independent that way and lastly, when the clock struck almost three and the hot sun was in full swing, she decided to enjoy the rest of the day at Juliet's house... Something told her that there was the place where she would have the inspiration to write the story that Lois had asked her...</p><p>Where is the best place to write something that makes you sigh if not at Shakespeare's heroine?</p><p>Raven followed the map down a long and busy avenue, looking at the signs in search of Juliet's house, until she found a place as busy as the street she was on, and to her surprise, something strange was happening there. People left the small courtyard in tears, supported by friends and relatives. Most were girls or adult women. On a counter, a woman acted like Juliet, asking where her Romeo was. There were people doing tourists things, taking pictures in every corner and other people wiping their tears watching the Juliet at the counter reciting the lines of the tragic tale of the Montecchio and Capuleto families.</p><p>But nothing caught Raven's attention more than the scene she saw in front of her. Men and Women, mostly women, writing letters and notes and leaving their letters in the middle of the stones on the wall in the courtyard of the house. There was a lot of emotion involved and Raven found herself wanting to understand what was going on there, because people were so moved by writing something to put on a stone wall.</p><p>Raven watched a girl who was weeping ruefully writing on top of tears that fell on the leaves and then, putting the paper on the wall and walking towards the exit crying so hard that Raven worried.</p><p>- "Hey... Are you okay?" - Raven tried to grab the woman's arm with one hand while picking up the phone with the other, ready to call for medical help. The woman sighed as if she needed air.</p><p>- "I... I'm scared..." - She murmured looking at Raven as she took steps away from her towards the steel gate - "Paolo... Paolo said he no longer loves me... And I'm with fear of not being able to live without him..." - Raven opened her mouth and closed it again, unsure how to help. The poor woman was heartbroken, her heart was broken by loving someone who didn't love her back and asking for help for the one who faced everything and everyone for her love.</p><p>The woman cried copiously as she walked away from Raven, the murmurs echoing until she disappeared into the crowd. Raven wanted to talk to her, wanted to help her, but she didn't know how. Raven couldn't even ask her name...</p><p>And there were so many other women like that there, and men and boys... All of them suffering from the only pain that had no remedy: loving too much.</p><p>Raven decided that she would write about magic in that place, about the emotion it caused in people and about how Juliet's house was a wailing wall for passionate wanders.</p><p>And Raven heard such beautiful stories while she was sitting on a stool, watching the movement empty out. From women who had overcome abusive relationships, from women who came to thank Juliet's advice... She just couldn't understand how Juliet helped these people... Juliet was a fictional character, it's not like she was a real person... So, how did she help these people?</p><p>But they were stories of inspiring lives that filled Raven's silly heart.</p><p>She almost never showed it, but she was an incorrigible romantic inside the skin of a voracious journalist. Raven stayed there, taking notes and watching the movement until there was no one left. It was around 5 pm and the visitation was probably over, but she didn't want to go to the hotel. Hardly Tommy would be there and she didn't want to be alone with her bags and messes and she was sure she would have to face dinner alone and with her rusty Italian.</p><p>She wanted to stay there, she had so much to write and that place inspired her so much that she couldn't stop.</p><p>She sat there, writing what was on her mind until she watched a woman, around 35 come with a wicker basket and put each letter and note inside. Raven watched the woman for as long as she was, waiting for her to throw them away or just keep them somewhere, until she watched the woman walk away where everyone went in and out, carrying the letters left there.</p><p>Raven's journalistic instinct reached its peak and before she could organize herself, her legs were already moving, following the woman carefully, while she tossed all the notes into her bag. The woman went around and around and when Raven thought that maybe she was trying to outwit her, she entered a small dark door on the side of a large restaurant. Raven took a deep breath and followed the woman up a long, thin staircase that led directly to a large, bright room, crammed with books and chairs on top of tables and in the center of the room, a table was organized with papers, envelopes, glues and stamps while 4 ladies were organizing and chatting about letter responses.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath, she definitely shouldn't be there and she was definitely invading something, but her curiosity was consuming her whole and it was going to eat her alive if she didn't understand what was going on there. She took a deep breath and tapped the door three times.</p><p>
  <i>Knock</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Knock</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Knock</i>
</p><p>All 4 pairs of eyes turned to her at once and a deathly silence filled the room. Raven swallowed hard, clasping her hands around her notebook, preparing to make a beautiful excuse for following an Italian woman in a very strange way.</p><p>- "Hmm... Excuse me... Ahnn... Do you speak my language?"</p><p>- "Oh thank god..." - The woman who had collected the tickets murmured with a smile on her lips as she put her hands up, walking towards Raven. She was a beautiful, tall woman with brown hair and olive eyes. She walked over to Raven and put her arm around the girl's shoulders, pulling her into the room - "Take this basket and... How do you say in your language...? Ahnn... Dive deep..."</p><p>- "Dive deep?" - Raven grunted smiling trying to understand what the woman said</p><p>- "You are the English translator for the employment agency, aren't you?"</p><p>- "No... No I... I'm not, I'm sorry..." - She took a deep breath and rolled her eyes looking tired.</p><p>- "I've been waiting for 2 weeks..."</p><p>- "I'm sorry... This is going to sound super weird but, my name is Raven Roth and I followed you and saw you putting these letters in that basket... I just... I wanted to know why..." - Raven said, feeling her cheeks flush, too embarrassed to have to admit she was a damn curious. The woman looked at Raven attentively, which made things a little more embarrassing - "I... I'm a journalist, I have a curiosity that corrodes me inside... It's my great sin, I'm sorry...."</p><p>- "<i>Why</i>?" - The woman asked with a smile in her voice - "Oh... You are a writer, right?"</p><p>- "Journalist... But it's almost the same" - Raven smiled</p><p>- "Oh come on!" - The woman looked at the other 3 sitting ladies - "She is a writer...!"</p><p>- "Oh cool..."</p><p>- "And she's so young"</p><p>- "And beautiful..."</p><p>- "Ah... Thank you" - Raven grunted smiling shyly</p><p>- "Come, Miss Raven... I'll show you what we do..." - She motioned for Raven to approach the window while the other 3 ladies continued to take notes and more notes from inside the basket, which now had few letters inside, the other women were already on a quick check and separation job and Raven watched as they worked fast.</p><p>Raven looked out the window, where the brown-haired woman was standing watching the street.</p><p>- "They come from all over the world..." - She murmured looking at the street. Raven glanced in the same direction, watching a group of girls leaning on each other while they clearly had crystal tears streaming down their faces.</p><p>- "But... Taking these letters from them is not... Like to get the coins from a fountain of wishes?"</p><p>- "How else can we answer them?"</p><p>- "Oh..." - Raven looked at the table again, the pieces fitting in her mind when she saw that the 3 ladies were now concentrated writing - "Ah so you answer all their letters?"</p><p>- "Yes... Exactly..."</p><p>- "But... Wouldn't that be deceiving them? I mean, they write for Juliet..."</p><p>- "They write asking for help when they don't know who else to turn to... So we just help..."</p><p>- "So... Are you all Julietas?"</p><p>- "We like to call ourselves her secretaries..." - The woman grunted smiling, waving Raven to follow her again near the table where the 3 ladies turned their attention to Raven - "This is Donatella" - she pointed to a gray-haired lady and sweet smile - "She has been married to the same man for 51 years... She is responsible for problems with husbands..."</p><p>- "Look my girl" - Donatella smiled looking at the silver commitment ring on Raven's finger - "Men are like wines, they take a long time to mature..." - Raven smiled slowly nodding.</p><p>- "This beautiful lady with blond hair is Giovanna... She is a nurse and she is responsible for losses and illnesses..." - Giovanna just smiled, as if she didn't need to say more. Raven agreed, losing someone from an early age was something she had known since her young age, it was not necessary to tell her what it was like... Apparently, Giovanna could see that perfectly in Raven - "And this beautiful lady with fire hair..." - She waved to the lady at the end of the table, with red hair, a yellow coat and fun glasses. She seemed to be the oldest among them and the loveliest of them all. Raven smiled - "This is Bianca..."</p><p>- "Why do you always sigh when you say my name?"</p><p>- "Bianca has 12 children, 29 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren..."</p><p>- "WOW..."</p><p>- "Exactly..."</p><p>- "I don't know why the surprise..." - Bianca rolled her eyes</p><p>-" And what is she responsible for?"</p><p>- "Bianca writes about what she wants, she has carte blanche for that..." - The brown-haired woman spoke smiling to Bianca who just shrugged</p><p>- "And you?" - Raven grunted turning to the woman again - "What do you write about?"</p><p>- "Isabella answers those we can't read..." - Giovanna grunted, handing one of the notes to Raven read. It was a small note, less than half a sheet of paper. The letters were so blurred that Raven doubted she could read anything there.</p><p>- "Fights, broken romances, unrequited loves, complicated hearts and difficult relationships... Someone has to answer them..." - Isabella murmured almost desolate as she took the note from Raven.</p><p>Raven watched for a few seconds while trying to reason what was going on there. Did these women devote hours of their day to responding to people with love problems around the world? Did they take time and willingness to do this every day for the simple love of counseling distressed hearts?</p><p>Raven would love to know more about that, but another voice pulled her out of her introspective moment. If Raven's Italian wasn't so rusty, someone was shouting that dinner was ready.</p><p>
  <i>Oh God, she needed to go back to the hotel and tell Tommy about her new discovery</i>
</p><p>- "It's my mother..." - Isabella said smiling, looking at Raven - "Do you want to stay for dinner with us?"</p><p>- "No need..." - Raven muttered awkwardly... She had already followed that woman, asked questions about her work and now she was staying for dinner? - "I... I need to go back to the hotel... My fiance must be waiting for me to have dinner together..."</p><p>- "Ah... I need to inform you that my mother does not take no for an answer..."</p><p>- "Thank you very much Isabella, but I don't want to disturb..."</p><p>- "Come... It won't be any problem..." - Raven looked at the phone quickly, hoping there was a message from Tommy, but there was nothing in the inbox... Just a photo he had taken with some colleagues from class hours ago.</p><p>Who did she want to kid? Tommy wouldn't come for dinner and she didn't want to have dinner alone...</p><p>A little feminine company wouldn't hurt, she knew that.</p><p>______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>- "The whole city says this" - The older woman grunted nervously from the kitchen - "And she doesn't want to stay for dinner..." - She came walking stomping hard, the heels of her shoes hitting high against the wooden floor while bringing a steaming pot in the hands - "You know very well that I can't stand rejection..." - Isabella's mother was a short woman with expression lines in her eyes and steady hands. She was short, with gray hair coming out of her white cap and olive eyes. She wore a white apron around her waist and black shoes made a loud noise against the wood every time she walked.</p><p>She was offended when Raven said she couldn't stay, Tommy had been texting asking where she was 5 minutes earlier, when she was already determined to stay and dinner with the Juliet's secretaries. He had said he was looking forward to her coming and to be honest, Raven just wanted to tell him all of this and she didn't think it was fair to let him have dinner alone.</p><p>It was the first opportunity for them to spend time together and alone as planned, she couldn't give it up because of work.</p><p>- "Mama, it's not an insult..." - Isabella grunted, trying to calm down the situation</p><p>- "It's not?" - The woman repeated, hands on hips while looking at Raven - "I prepared a beautiful dish, family recipe!" - She looked really offended - "A huge dinner, enough for the whole city and she says no..."</p><p>- "Look, lady Maria... I would love to stay for dinner and taste your food" - Raven said trying to apologize - "But I can't... I really need to go..."</p><p>- "That's the problem with Americans..." - The woman grunted, her voice breaking as if she wanted to cry - "You're always running... You never have time for anything..."</p><p>- "Please mom..."</p><p>- "I need to meet my fiance, lady Maria... That's why I need to go..." - Maria looked at Raven for a few seconds and then, a giant smile appeared on the woman's face, the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes making her eyes almost close</p><p>- "Ah... A fiance! Ah how beautiful... Congratulations... So young and have you found your half, my child?"</p><p>- "Yes..."</p><p>- "Ah bravo!"</p><p>- "Congratulations, girl"</p><p>- "Congratulations..."</p><p>- "Cheers, dear..." - Raven smiled accepting the congratulations from the Juliet's secretariats while Mrs. Maria went to the kitchen and came back with a paper bag and handed it to Raven. - "Since you're not going to stay for dinner, at least take this dessert for you and your <i>sposo</i>..." - She smiled, placing the paper bag in Raven's hands. It had such a pleasant smell of red fruit coming from inside the paper bag that Raven's stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had been eating for hours.</p><p>- "Thank you..." - Raven grunted smiling accepting the paper bag - "Good night to all of you..."</p><p>- "Bye Raven..."</p><p>- "Come back later with your fiance..."</p><p>- "I'll try..." - Raven smiled waving at the women as she left the restaurant that was just under their office. Raven took a deep breath walking back to the hotel and thinking about the things she learned that day... Was it incredibly beautiful the work those women did, writing letters in the digital age? Totally incredible.</p><p>And they advised people from all over the world, in all languages and didn't ask for anything in return and they seemed to do it for a long time, Raven could almost believe that soon it would become a tradition passed on for generations...</p><p>She was happy to have made the decision to go to Juliet's house alone, with Tommy there she would never have figured it out and she would never be able to write about it. Raven came into the room and heard the sound of the shower running and Tommy's clothes lying on the floor, shoes covered in mud at the door. She placed the paper bag on the nightstand and threw herself on the bed thinking about the pros and cons of going into the bathroom while Tommy was there, but seeing her own plans being ruined when Tommy left minutes later fully dressed in his pajamas and staying surprised to see her there.</p><p>- "120 KM round trip and I got here first than you..." - He grunted smiling, walking up to her to lightly hold her face and kiss her on the forehead</p><p>- "Congratulations..." - Raven grunted</p><p>- "What?" - Tommy muttered, throwing himself on the bed next to her while turning on the notebook  - "So... How was Verona without your fiance? Bad? Kind of bad? Completely Empty?"</p><p>- "Kind of bad..." - Raven grunted smiling, looking at him - "I met Juliet's secretaries..."</p><p>- "Juliet...?" - He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, his attention leaving the camera cables and falling on Raven beside him - "Julieta Capuleto's secretaries?"</p><p>- "Exactly..." - Raven grunted smiling and excited - There are 4 women who call themselves 'Juliet's Secretaries' and they write letters to people from all over the world... It's an incredible and fantastic job..." - She smiled excitedly counting while Tommy plugged the camera cables into the computer and chased the smell from the paper bag - "These women work for the city of Verona... And... Oh the place where they collect the letters is full of people looking for help in their lives and it's so amazing because they help not only the people with problems in the love life... And-"</p><p>- "What's in that bag?" - Tommy grunted picking up the bag on the nightstand</p><p>- "Erm... I don't know..." - Raven tilted his head to the side watching Tommy take the paper bag, open it, grab a bagel of the contents and bite it looking not very aware of what Raven was saying - "So... Coming back to the subject of Juliet's secretaries... Those people who come to ask Juliet for help write on a paper or a note and leave it on a stone wall in the courtyard of Juliet's house.</p><p>- "Uhum..." - He grunted with his mouth full and then sat down next to her again, attention returning to the computer</p><p>- "Then the departments come with a basket and pick up these letters every day and answer the letters as if it were Juliet! They respond to all letters that have return addresses... It's their job and it's incredible and they do it with such dedication! It's so exciting to see them writing, Tommy... And they do it every day, without getting tired..."</p><p>- "Hm..." - Tommy chewed slowly nodding</p><p>- "They work all day and every day and-"</p><p>- "My god this is amazing! We have to buy more of this before we leave" - Tommy grunted looking at the computer screen while biting another piece of Mrs. Maria's dessert - "You need to try... And my love, you have to see the photos I took of the forest... - He smiled stretching a piece of bread for Raven to bite. Raven took a deep breath, swallowing what she was saying.</p><p>
  <i>Was he even paying attention to what she had said?</i>
</p><p>- "Ahnn... Yeah... I thought we would eat after dinner..." - Raven grunted, swallowing all the excitement of telling about her day with the bread - "It's a dessert from Mrs. Maria, mother of one of the women who answers the letters as Juliet..."</p><p>- "Ah... Did you want to have dinner?" - Tommy arched an eyebrow - "I thought you would have eaten out already so I had dinner just before you arrived..."</p><p>- "Ah..." - Raven opened her mouth without being able to really say what she wanted to say - "Have you... Have you had dinner..."</p><p>- "I'm sorry, my beautiful... I should have asked..."</p><p>- "No... Okay..." - Raven grunted slapping his hand on the bed as he got up to go take a shower. She needed a shower, urgently... Or she needed to get away from Tommy.</p><p>- "Raven..."</p><p>- "I... I'm going to take a hot shower, Tommy... I walked all day..."</p><p>- "It's all right?"</p><p>- "Yeah... Totally all right... I... I wasn't even hungry... I just need a shower..."</p><p>- "Sure... Okay, take a shower and come over here, because I have some incredible news to tell you... Seriously..."</p><p>- "Erm... Okay..." - Raven nodded and just grabbed her things and went to the bathroom, disappointed that the things she had to tell weren't as exciting for Tommy as they had been for her.</p><p>Raven let the water fall on her shoulders as she tried to get rid of the bad feeling that was in her body after hearing from Tommy that he had already dined without her and the fact that he just didn't give a damn what she was up to.</p><p>They said relationships that lasted more than 8 years were for life, but why did she now feel Tommy getting further and further away from her? He was never the romantic type, but this trip was meant to be just them and now, there were so many things...</p><p>Except what it should be, <b>they</b>.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and stepped out of the shower, stuffing herself in the first pajamas she saw, it was clear that Tommy wanted nothing more than to talk about his stupid pictures, there was no reason for her to wear something more sensual just to see Tommy not look up from the computer and then just turn to the side and sleep.</p><p>Especially after Tommy threw a bucket of ice water on her like that conversation.</p><p>Raven came out of the bathroom combing her wet hair while trying to put things in perspective and balancing her relationship in the midst of all that time, paranoia about being too hasty about marrying Tommy and coming back with all her might. She wanted to talk to someone, with a friend but, she knew what Kory and Lois would say and she only had them next to them, and they were an ocean away too, Raven didn't want to have to go out to call them, there was time zone too. That was the disadvantage of being abandoned by her mother since she was a child, she only had herself and a few friends to ask for advice... Raven never wanted so much to have a maternal figure around...</p><p>What would her mother say to her? That things are so? That everything improves afterwards? That Tommy still loved her? She wanted to believe that so badly.</p><p>- "Rae, come here..." - He grunted calling her to sit next to him. Raven took a deep breath and sat down next to Tommy - "Okay... If you say no, I won't do it..." - He held her hands - "Say no and I won't do it... I'm dying to do it, but I don't I do"</p><p>- "Ahnn... Okay, but... What?"</p><p>- "I just spoke to Mr Johns and he invited me to an amazing photography auction..."</p><p>- "Oh really?"</p><p>- "In Livorno..."</p><p>- "In Livorno?"</p><p>- "Yes, Livorno..." - He bit his lower lip - "It's super exclusive, you know, I don't even know if I would be able to get in, so I would only be gone for one day, at most two... And when I return, there would still be time for us to go to that opera you wanted to go to... If you want I can try to get two tickets for this auction, but I don't think I will get two tickets..."</p><p>- "But... A photography auction in Livorno...?"</p><p>- "Yes... Really boring, isn't it? I'm sorry... I'm really sorry, I'm feeling terrible..." - He grimaced - "Oh I don't know... I'm already missing you..." - Raven tilted her head to the side, trying to find your own voice.</p><p>He said that if she said no he wouldn't, but was he already sure that he would go so far as to say he missed her? This could only be some kind of dull joke. Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying to organize what she should answer.</p><p>- "Hm..." - Raven nodded slowly reflecting what she was hearing. Did he really and truly want to leave her completely alone in Verona? And their plans? And the places where they could visit? - "Will this be tomorrow? Will it last all day?"</p><p>- "This... Soon at night I'm back at best..." - He smiled excitedly - "Isn't it amazing? It's an incredible auction for photography lovers... There will be an auction for a photograph of President John Quincy Adams from over 100 years old! It's fantastic..."</p><p>- "Okay, great... But, what about our plans? Didn't we go to Lake Garda together tomorrow?"</p><p>- "Erm..." - Tommy frowned - "Lake Garda has been there for another 500,000 years, baby" - He kissed Raven's hand -  "It's an auction of historical pieces and it's super exclusive... Mr Johns said that it is a unique opportunity to achieve things that I will never have the opportunity to have again..." - He took a deep breath, an animated smile on his face as he looked at Raven.</p><p>She kept her eyes down, her fingers too interested in her blanket to be able to look at Tommy, or too irritated to look at Tommy. After 6 days of taking photography lessons, after spending a whole day without being on her side on their honeymoon, was he proposing that she wouldn't mind him going to another city while she was here?</p><p>- "And what am I going to do in the meantime?"</p><p>- "I don't know..." - He grunted - "I have my hands tied, I don't want to leave you alone because this is our honeymoon, but... It's an opportunity that I won't have again..." - Raven took a deep breath defeated. She was too tired to have to compete for her fiance's attention with a college professor he had already finished a year earlier, but she didn't want to make a scene just because she wanted to go to a lake with him... That was the future of them, Lake Garda could stay for later, they still had 8 days there...</p><p>- "Look... Okay, do whatever you feel like... I have to... I have to work too, so I'm going to take the day off without you here to learn more about Juliet's secretaries... You know what it's better for you and I can't stop you, just as you can't stop me..."</p><p>- "Are you serious? Because if you think you can't, I can tell Mr. Johns that I appreciate and-"</p><p>- "No Tommy, you can go..." - She took a deep breath - "Anyway... I'm going to sleep, I'm tired and jet lag is still affecting me..." - Tommy smiled and kissed Raven on the cheek so quickly saying about how she was the best bride he could have that Raven didn't want to hear, she just wanted to sleep and pretend it wasn't happening...</p><p>
  <i>What had they become?</i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4: A Special Letter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raven woke up with Tommy walking around the hotel room picking up his belongings and putting them in the smallest bag he had, for someone planning to return that day, he was carrying a lot... 3 pieces of clothing?</p><p>- "Good morning, baby..." - He smiled, seeing Raven prop her up on her elbows, looking at him with her eyes still half open, trying to get used to the light.<br/>
Raven grunted something intelligible and rubbed her eyes with her palms as she sat on the bed, still waking up slowly. It shouldn't be more than 9:30 in the morning and Tommy was already in full swing and 100% awake. Raven didn't remember seeing him like that at any time.</p><p>- "Good morning..." - She grunted - "Do you need to leave so soon?"</p><p>- "Yes..." - He smiled, checking the things he would take - "Mr Johns doesn't want to miss a minute and I still have to get the entrance ticket..." - He smiled and pointed the camera lens at Raven - "Smile birdie..."</p><p>- "Tommy...!" - Raven grunted closing her eyes when the light from the camera flash blinded her</p><p>- "I need a picture of you so I don't miss you..."</p><p>- "But I haven't even woken up yet..."</p><p>- "And you're still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen..."</p><p>- "Gallant..." - Raven grunted smiling. She took a deep breath and stretched, feeling her bones crack and her stomach protest for food. She hadn't eaten the night before, she was so upset that Tommy didn't wait for her for dinner that she just lost her appetite.</p><p>Now she seemed to have a hungry monster in place for her stomach.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly from her lungs and finally decided to get up, she would shake off the disappointment of the previous night and take it the same way she took it the day before. She was an adult and independent woman and she had a job to do. Writing about Juliet's secretaries would take time and she would need the peace and quiet she wouldn't have with Tommy by the side...</p><p>And they could still go to some places when he got back, he had said that before she even looked frustrated. They still had 8 days to go out and do things together. It's not like she needs to be with him all the time. Raven moaned when the cold water hit her face causing her to fully wake up and fall into reality: It was silly that she felt this way just because he wanted to go somewhere without her.</p><p>
  <i>It's not like he's going to abandon her like the other people in his life... He was just going to another city at an auction, right?</i>
</p><p>Raven came out of the bathroom practically ready, the day had a hot sun outside and life was already running in the veins of the city. Raven would have a good breakfast and then go back to Juliet's house to watch people again.</p><p>- "You will leave? Any special place?"</p><p>- "Of course... I'll take the opportunity to continue my research for that article that Lois asked for..."</p><p>- "Got it..." - He smiled putting the bag on his shoulder - "So... I need to go, okay? I won't be long..."</p><p>- "Okay... We'll talk later..."</p><p>- "Try not to have too much fun without me..." - He smiled pouting before returning a kiss on Raven's forehead and walking out the bedroom door by typing a number on the phone. Raven came out right behind him, checking the bag to make sure he had everything he needed, a notepad, two pens, camera and cell phone.</p><p>Everything she needed.</p><p>Raven took her time to have breakfast, sitting at a small table in a street of regular stones and old houses. She stood there, watching the movement of people, couples walking hand in hand, the sound of children smiling, the distant noise of a bicycle bell. It was so much life, so many colors and flavors that Raven let herself be disconnected from everything for a brief and unique moment. She hardly had a chance to do that when she was in Metropolis, those rare moments were always interrupted by the ring of her phone.<br/>
Raven took the time to text her friends, not to mention that Tommy had traveled to another city, they would make Raven feel down again and she didn't want the paranoia to come back, she was fine, happy and relaxed. I wanted nothing more than peace of mind and a good mocaccino while looking through the windows of the small shops.</p><p>Raven bought souvenirs while walking, drank a considerable amount of caffeine, ate ice cream in a cone and when he no longer saw what to do for Venice, he decided it was time to do some work. Her joy almost overflowed when she found Isabella with the basket in her hands walking to Juliet's house. A sign that there was a possibility that she might know a little more about Juliet's secretaries without having to wait until the end of the day.</p><p>It was still 11 am... And there were already many letters hanging on the wall.</p><p>- "Miss Raven!"</p><p>- "Isabella..." - She smiled, putting her phone in her bag - "Are you already working?"</p><p>- "I fetch the cards twice a day... Sometimes 3, if the movement is too big..." - She smiled - "We don't want to risk any letter being lost..."</p><p>- "Ah..."</p><p>- "And your fiance? Is he around?"</p><p>- "Ahnn... No, he had to solve something in Livorno... I'm alone again..."</p><p>- "Ah..." - She smiled nodding - "Your fiance is very busy..."</p><p>- "Yeah..."</p><p>- "He is passionate about work..."</p><p>- "He sure is..." - Raven laughed shyly </p><p>- "And what does he work to be so passionate about?"</p><p>- "He is very passionate about photography..."</p><p>- "Ah... He's an artist! My mama always says never to fall in love with artists... They are married to art"</p><p>- "I should have listened to that advice before I met Tommy..." - Raven smiled</p><p>- "Don't listen to the advice of an old Italian woman... Your fiance must love you very much... That's life..."</p><p>- "Yes..." - Raven smiled - "But, he thinks he's been Italian since he arrived and although the intention is good, he doesn't imitate very well..." - Isabella chuckled</p><p>- "Men..." - She shook her head in denial</p><p>- "Yes... Men..." - Raven crossed her arms smiling - "But I also need some time away from him to get to work and... I loved this place and since I was without company and with nothing to do, I decided to come here to write a little..."</p><p>- "But you shouldn't be alone..."</p><p>- "I prefer to be alone here, than in his photographic adventures... Believe me when I say I tried..." - Raven smiled - "Mud and flashes are not my habitat... Nor auctions..." - Raven shrugged - "My habitat is a notepad and a good story for me to unravel her secrets..."</p><p>- "If you want, you can help us... Why not?"</p><p>- "Oh really?"</p><p>- "Yes... I'll put the ones we answered yesterday in the mail and then, I'll get the ones that are already on the wall... We need a translator, anyway..."</p><p>- "Of course! I mean... That would be fantastic, I can write about and understand how you work and when you do it... Of course I want to help you..."</p><p>- "Great... So come on, I need to send these letters before lunch or else, Mama will pluck our ears..." - She smiled pulling Raven along with her.<br/>
Raven and Isabella walked down the streets, talking about their lives and their respective jobs. Raven hardly noticed how far she walked because the conversation just flowed naturally. It was as if Raven knew Isabella from a long life, and it was as if she had a friend since she was a child.</p><p>- "How long have you been engaged?" - Isabella asked as she put the letters in the small red mailboxes, checking them one by one to make sure they were closed and sealed.</p><p>- "7 months... But we met and have been dating since high school..."</p><p>- "Wow... And may I ask why you wear a dating ring on your finger and not an engagement ring?"</p><p>- "Oh sure... This was something I insisted on not having..." - Raven swayed on her feet - "Tommy got a scholarship in Paris and we agreed on getting married before he left so, we would know that we are always waiting for each other... Tommy was so busy trying to improve his career and chasing all the necessary papers to go to Paris... I just... I thought it wasn't necessary for him to have to spend with an engagement ring too..." - Isabella smiled shyly as she looked at Raven and then put the last handful of letters into the mailbox.</p><p>- "Well... But every girl deserves a ring..." - She smiled friendly at Raven and started walking the same way they came from, not touching the subject of engagement with Raven again. Raven had heard almost the same thing when he told Kory that he was engaged, that she deserved a ring, a decent request and that it wasn’t just because he was leaving for another country and now, this coming from a person who barely knew her, it seemed to have hit her differently.</p><p>They walked back almost silently to Juliet's house. It was lunchtime and there were just over 5 or 6 people taking pictures as tourists. Raven started to take ticket by ticket with the same care as Isabela and put it in the wicker basket, listening to the sound of the clock giving 12 clocks in the distance, announcing that it was noon.<br/>
She was so distracted and intent on removing the letters, mostly wet with tears, that she pulled one that was held by a loose stone from the wall, making the stone roll across the patio floor with a crash.<br/>
- "Fuck!" - Raven grunted bending to pick up the stone. It was just what was missing, she accidentally deteriorating public assets.</p><p>- "It's all right? Did you get hurt?"</p><p>- "No, it's okay I just..." - Raven looked up to put the stone in place, when she noticed that inside the space where the stone was, there was something stored there, it looked like a letter, carefully folded almost at the end of the wall , mixed with other loose stones. Raven frowned and very carefully, put her hand in the hole in the wall to remove the paper hidden inside.</p><p>Raven felt her heart clench and flip, it wasn't just a note, it was a letter folded in a worn, dirty, yellowed envelope. Raven was surprised how time had not acted and destroyed that letter, she must have been there for years. Behind the beaten envelope, in a very beautiful handwriting, Raven could still read "Juliet, Verona" and in front of it, the address of the poor anguished heart: a man named Alfred Pennyworth, with the address of Gotham City.</p><p>A strange shiver ran down Raven's spine, it was as if all the gears of fate had moved for her to be there, in that place, at that moment, finding a letter from someone from Gotham. It was as if the letter had chosen her, which was impossible and she began to think that maybe, the loneliness in Verona and the paranoia were driving her crazy.</p><p>
  <i>She wouldn't be finding it if Tommy was there, oh god she needed to tell him about it...</i>
</p><p>- "What is it?"</p><p>- "I don't know... It was hidden behind the fallen stone... It's a letter..."</p><p>- "A letter? Was there a letter in that hole?"</p><p>- "Yes..." - Raven grunted reaching for the envelope in the basket and being stopped by Isabella</p><p>- "No... This letter cannot be mixed with these here, she is special... She chose you... Come on, let's go to the office, you need to read it..."</p><p>- "What about the other letters?"</p><p>- "Not many letters, we can get them later..."</p><p>Isabella took Raven's arm and pulled her towards the office where they answered the letters, almost making an announcement in Italian that Raven had a relic in hand. Raven saw them sit across from her, their eyes eager and curious, waiting for her to open the letter.</p><p>- "Come on, Raven... Read this letter..."</p><p>- "Okay... Ahnn..." - Raven took a deep breath and tried to avoid eye contact with the 4 pairs of attentive eyes on her unfold the letter carefully as dust flakes rose in the air - "The author of this letter is called Alfred... A letter was written in 1960 and he was going to Gotham City..." - She took a deep breath - "Dear Juliet... First of all I would like to say, I am a coward..."</p><p>_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>- <i>“...I didn't go with her, Julieta... I didn't go to see Esme... Her eyes were so happy and so full of confidence! I promised that we would meet at Kings Cross station and flee away from London, because it was the only way to be free of the bonds that bound me in the British military air service... But instead, I left her waiting for me at the station we had agreed to meet, wondering where I was, with tears in her eyes... I saw her at the station, I saw her get on the train and leave, taking our future together... Now I'm in Verona, I'm going to America early in the morning and I'm so scared... Please Juliet, tell me what to do, my heart is broken and I have nothing to talk about... Sincerely, Alfred”</i></p><p>- "And stayed there all these years?" - Giovanna asked, one eyebrow raised, pointing to the long letter in her hands. Raven shrugged, still rereading the letter with her eyes. Alfred seemed so sorry to have left Esme that she could feel his sadness in those letters.</p><p>- "I think..." - Donatella grunted tapping the pen on the cheek - "I think he returned to London and moved heaven and earth to find his true love..."</p><p>- "And they had 10 children..." - Bianca complemented Donatella's opinion - "And they still make love with the same passion every night..."</p><p>- "Only he gained weight, went bald and she does all the home work..." - Giovanna grunted rolling her eyes, making everyone laugh</p><p>- "Giovanna..." - Isabella and Donatella said in unison</p><p>- "Anyway..." - Donatella rolled her eyes and looked back at Raven - "Or maybe he went to America, married a beautiful rich woman and lived happily ever after, like me...</p><p>- "But you married an accountant, not an rich American..."</p><p>- "Nobody is perfect..."</p><p>- "But I bet that when he makes love with the American, he thinks of his true love, Esme..."</p><p>Raven smiled, seeing how excited they were to hear Alfred's letter, making theories about what that tormented man would be like today. Raven looked at the letter and then looked at Isabella sitting across from her, an encouraging smile on her face.</p><p>- "Isabella... I need to answer..." - Raven took a deep breath. Isabella, Giovanna, Donatella and Bianca looked at each other and then, Isabella sighed, handing paper and pen to Raven with a smile on her lips.</p><p>- "I thought you wouldn't ask..." - She smiled - "Then answer..."</p><p>Raven smiled back, holding the paper, feeling the adrenaline of writing running through her veins. It was what she liked to do, it was her passion and using that passion to write to answer such an old letter made her feel as excited as she has never been in all these days in Verona ...<br/>
To be honest, she hasn't been so excited since Lois called her to say that she got her Daily Planet job years ago ...</p><p>Raven was devoted to that letter for hours, she wrote drafts and more drafts until she was able to convey what she wanted to say to Alfred: He was not a coward and he should seek his true love. Raven took a deep breath when he finished writing. Night had already fallen in Verona and Juliet's secretariats were already gone, only Raven had stayed there, too focused on her letter to pay attention to anything. Not even Tommy's phone call stopped her...</p><p><i>She would explain it to him when it was over</i>.</p><p>She looked at the letter finally written and she couldn't help smiling, she didn't even know if that letter would reach Alfred, but she felt complete and fulfilled, as if she had fulfilled her purpose of going to Verona. Raven decided it was time to put the letter in the envelope and go to the hotel, she had already abused too much of Isabella's goodwill and charisma, she didn't want her to think that Raven wanted to sleep there.</p><p>After saying goodbye to Isabella and returning to the hotel with a lunch of gouda risotto for her dinner, Raven came across the empty hotel room exactly the way she had left it. Tommy wasn't back yet, so he would probably be back the next day. Raven decided to take a hot shower and dine on the food she had brought to the hotel room in the meantime, not letting the thought of sleeping alone not overwhelm her. Nothing could spoil what she was feeling, not even the fear of being alone that she always felt.</p><p>Nothing would ruin that... That night, Raven did not sleep because she was angry at Tommy not paying attention to what she said or because she was jet lagged... Raven slept smiling for doing something she wanted to do after so many days doing what someone else wanted and it felt good, really good.<br/>
Raven hugged Tommy's pillow, she couldn't wait for him to arrive to tell him what had happened. Before going to sleep, Raven said a silent prayer in her heart.</p><p>
  <i>"Alfred, please receive this letter and live your true love"</i>
</p><p>Perhaps the gods could hear her heart</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5: Alfred</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raven woke up with the bed empty and the phone buzzing somewhere on the bed. She tried to ignore it for a while trying to remember if she had left the alarm on when she got there, but she was very insistent and she was forced to wake up and answer. She grunted and felt for the mattress, finally managing to pick up the device from the covers, the picture of Tommy appearing on the screen. Raven took a deep breath and slid her finger over the screen, lying down again while answering the phone.</p><p>- "Hello..." - Raven grunted throwing his arms over his face.</p><p>- <i>"Buon giorno bella addormentata..."</i> - The voice sounded very lively from the other side</p><p>- "So early?" - Raven smiled, her voice hoarse from just waking up</p><p>- <i>"Yes..."</i> - Tommy smiled - <i>"Do you miss me?</i></p><p>- "I always miss you, Tommy..."</p><p>- <i>"Me too..."</i> - He looked quickly to the side - <i>"Here is incredible, Rae... Seriously, I'm learning a lot from everything I'm seeing and I think it will be great for my classes..."</i> - He breathed bottom</p><p>- "And how was your day with the auction...?"</p><p>- <i>"It was cool, it was great..."</i> - He smiled - <i>"Mr Johns said he can take me to others like this if I get interested and give me a list of great courses I can take... This guy is amazing... He you shoot by instinct you know, without staging anything and it always comes out so amazing... I think I can learn a lot from him..."</i></p><p>- "Really?"</p><p>- <i>"Yes... He is incredible... I think I never had a class as positive as these days</i>" - He smiled - <i>But, tell me about your day, I called you and you didn't answer..."</i></p><p>- "I had a wonderful day!" - Raven felt the emotion of writing the letter for Alfred to hit her hard again, she sat on the bed, putting a hair behind her ear - "I answered a letter that was written 50 years ago. I know it may not reach the addressee, but it is so good to write again..."</p><p>- <i>"I think you should spend more time with them..."</i> - Tommy muttered looking disinterestedly at the screen. Raven raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he meant by that. He was pushing her away?</p><p>- "Why?"</p><p>- <i>"Because it's your passion, right? That's what you like to do, isn't it? And also because it will be perfect... Because..."</i></p><p>- "Tommy..."</p><p>- <i>"Wait, baby, I'll explain what happened..."</i> - He smiled and moved in his chair - <i>"I spoke to Mr Johns yesterday and he told me about a workshop here in Livorno about photography, it's a quick thing, just 3 days..."</i></p><p>- "Tommy, you told me we were going to the opera..."</p><p>- <i>"Yes I know I said, I feel terrible about it but... It's an incredible workshop, Raven... I won't be able to participate in another one anytime soon..."</i> - Raven took a deep breath looking at the ceiling without knowing what say - <i>"I will miss you in the next 4 days..."</i></p><p>- "4 days?"</p><p>- <i>"Yes... The auction will last another day and then, I will go to the workshop..."</i> - Raven took a deep breath and licked her lips</p><p><i>Great</i>...</p><p>He would come back almost on the day of going to the house and everything he had done in those 15 days was anything but going out with her to do things she wanted</p><p>- <i>"Raven..."</i></p><p>- "Okay, Tommy ... - Raven grunted rubbing his eyes - "I... I'll try to refund the opera tickets and... Try to find something for me to do in the meantime..."</p><p>- <i>"It's all right? Really?"</i></p><p>- "Really..." - Raven replied drier than she really wanted to sound</p><p>- <i>"Great...!"</i> - He smiled not seeming to care about Raven's visible discomfort - <i>"You write the letters and I photograph... You love to write and I love to photograph... So, everyone wins..."</i> - Raven snorted and nodded.</p><p>- "Okay ... But-"</p><p>- <i>"I have to go..."</i> - He grunted smiling - <i>"We will talk later... Right?"</i></p><p>- "Okay... See you latter..." - She took a deep breath, watching Tommy send a kiss across the screen and then, the image freezes and disappears from the phone screen. Great, she would stay another 4 days alone in Verona on what was supposed to be her honeymoon.</p><p>Tommy was happy, but what about her? Was she happy? Raven mentally weighed the choices she made and what she had done in Verona so far. In 8 days, she felt really and completely happy in just one and was exactly writing. She knew it was their honeymoon and they were supposed to be together, probably wrapped in sheets and doing romantic things, but they weren't like that... Right?</p><p>She was asked to marry when they were going to sleep, they never celebrated Valentine's Day or anniversary, there would not be a big wedding ceremony, they would just sign the papers... Raven wouldn't even wear a dress... There was no reason why she wanted to be like other couples, this was how Tommy liked her, this was how they had been together for so long.</p><p>Tommy was right, she liked to write, it was what made her happy and there was no reason for her to make a scene and ruin everything because she wanted him with her there... He sure would be angry and would want to leave and Raven would spend the months alone thinking about it.</p><p>Raven rolled her eyes and kicked the covers off her body, determined not to think about it anymore. She was alone in Verona, but it wouldn't be a complete sacrifice, she had known something that made her happy involving her passion...</p><p>And she was only alone for 4 days, it's not like he was abandoning her there...</p><p>She had to stop being afraid of him leaving her, he would never do that... He was not the people who abandoned her years ago, he was with her all these years. It would not be a trip to Verona that would make him leave.</p><p>For a whole day, Raven spent not thinking about being alone, Isabella let her be a helper while she was there and she was grateful to be able to translate the letters for them. They were so excited and always told of their romance and married life that Raven hardly saw the time go by. Tommy called at the end of the day just to say good night to her and to say how amazing everything was being... Raven accepted this as a form of training for the next few months, he would go to Paris, she would stay in Metropolis working...</p><p>Raven woke up on the second day feeling something different in the air, it was as if almost running, headed for the office of the Juliet's secretaries, they were already in full swing, writing their letters and talking about them. Raven took advantage of the fact that everything was very fresh in her mind to write about the letter forgotten on the wall for 50 years while she talked about the answer with the secretariats, who were attentive to their respective answers.</p><p>- "Listen to what this poor woman wrote" - Giovanna muttered, lifting the note she was answering - "'Juliet, is there anything worse in this world than men?'"</p><p>- "Yes..." - Bianca replied laughing - "Two men..."</p><p>- That's true - All the women answered in unison laughing and returning to pay attention to their letters. It was such a relaxed atmosphere that Raven could almost feel at home and that was not a bad thing, it was better than staying at the hotel regretting being alone...</p><p>Raven didn't like feeling alone.</p><p>
  <i>Knock</i><br/>
<i>Knock</i><br/>
<i>Knock</i>
</p><p>- "Excuse me..." - A male voice pulled the attention of the 5 women in the room, at the door there was a man standing. He looked no more than 20-something, cinnamon skin, hard features and dark hair like onyx.</p><p>He wore sunglasses and seemed to be looking for someone in particular</p><p>- "May I help?" - Isabella murmured waving for him to enter the room. She smirked and removed her glasses, walking over to the table where they sat. Raven felt uncomfortable, his eyes had a shade of green so intense and clear that it made her feel disconcerted, intimidated.</p><p>- "I'm sorry to interrupt, but are you Juliet's secretaries?"</p><p>- "Yes, it's us... How can we help?"</p><p>- "Great..." - He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out an envelope that made Raven's heart speed up and turn his chest. In the hands of the boy in front of them was the envelope that Raven had answered days before. Alfred's reply - "May I know who wrote this letter to my grandfather, Alfred Pennyworth?"</p><p>- "Ahnn..." - Raven smiled and stood up smiling, the letter had reached the destination so quickly that it seemed strange... Just one day? - "I wrote it... I can't believe you found it!"</p><p>- "Pennyworth as a good Brit usually stays in the same place..." - He grunted shrugging</p><p>- "Yeah... This is amazing...! It only took almost two days for her to reach you..." - She smiled walking up to him. She was ecstatic, the letter had reached an addressee, Alfred had a grandson who seemed kind and oh god, was he also Esme's grandson? Perhaps Donatella and Bianca's theories were right.</p><p>- "It was a very... attentive letter..." - He mumbled walking closer to Raven - "But... What the hell were you thinking?" - He said, becoming nervous right away. Raven felt dizzy, looking into his green eyes that looked stormy.</p><p>- "I..." - Raven grunted and then she shook her head, if she kept looking at him, she would have to sit down. - "I thought he deserved an answer"</p><p>- "Maybe 50 years ago, not now..."</p><p>- "I'm sorry, sir... I didn't know that true love came with an expiration date" - Raven countered, crossing her arms.</p><p>- "True love? Tch..." - He rolled his eyes - "Are you kidding? Can you imagine what would have happened if he hadn't thought better of it?"</p><p>- "You wouldn't be here and that would be great already..." - Raven grunted, trying not to show how offended she was. She was too proud to show any flaws or weaknesses around anyone, especially a guy who felt like he owned the reason she had just met.</p><p>- "What are you doing here? Are you some kind of lonely American who lives the lives of others?"</p><p>- "I'm not lonely, I'm actually engaged..."</p><p>- "Well..." - He put the glasses back on - "My condolences to the groom..." - He turned and walked back toward the door, leaving Raven's mouth open, trying to understand what had just happened. Had that man just taken the trouble to go after her just to offend her because of a letter? Had he crossed the continent to offend someone because of a letter?Raven shook his head as an animalistic growl came out of his throat... What did he think he was doing? Who did he think he was? She was too proud to take offenses home.</p><p>She walked quickly after him, ready to say her little arsenal of ugly words if necessary, the bad words she used only in special situations... Situations like these.</p><p>- "Excuse!" - Raven called him as she walked after him - "So this is it? Are you coming from Gotham to scold me?"</p><p>- "No... I came because I couldn't let Pennyworth come alone..." - He grunted still walking</p><p>- "Is Alfred here?" - Raven said surprised. Alfred was there in Verona, he was alive and there! Raven felt a wave of nervousness and anxiety fill her as she continued to follow the cinnamon-skinned man, completely forgetting that he had offended her 5 minutes earlier - "Why?"</p><p>- "He wanted to meet you..." - He rolled his eyes - "And I think you should know too..." - Raven stopped walking and put her hand on her heart, her chest beating fast on her chest as she analyzed why Alfred wanted to meet her</p><p>- "Oh my Gosh..."</p><p>- "A quick search was enough to know that you are a kind of private detective..."</p><p>- "I'm not a private investigator... I'm-"</p><p>- "And who cares?"</p><p>- "It matters..." - Raven rolled her eyes - "This is awesome! He's going to look for Esme!" - He suddenly stopped his steps and turned to Raven, his eyes crazy as if he had heard one of the greatest absurdities in the world.</p><p>- "Awesome?" - Raven nodded, smiling. He looked at her for a long second before giving a wry laugh and walking slowly over to her again - "What if this Esme doesn't want to be found? What if she forgot him? What if we can't find it anywhere? What if this Esme is seriously ill or worse, and what if she is dead? And then? What are you going to suggest that he do?" - He crossed his arms, waiting for her to respond.</p><p>Raven pressed her lips together in a thin line, not knowing what to say, she had been taken aback by that question. She never thought that Alfred would receive the letter or follow her advice, who knows what the consequences would be...</p><p>She was unanswered.</p><p>She just couldn't tell if it was because of this, or because his eyes were extremely inquisitive.</p><p>- "Erm..." - Raven stammered</p><p>- "That's what I thought..." - He rolled his eyes and turned his back, walking again - "I'll tell him I didn't find you..."</p><p>- "I want to meet him..." - Raven grunted, putting his hands in his shirt pocket, dangling at his feet.</p><p>- "And I want to be a ninja, but I know I can't go around killing people around with a shuriken..."</p><p>- "He doesn't want to meet me?"</p><p>- "I honestly don't think he doesn't want to meet a woman who can say <i>"Oh my Gosh"</i> and <i>"Awesome"</i> in the same sentence..." - He turned his back and started walking again, entering Juliet's house. Raven stood there, looking in the direction where the man she didn't even know his name had entered.</p><p>Tell Raven something she can't do, she'll do it even better</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and walked back to where he was, watching him talk to a man in his early 60s. He wore a dark suit and a butterfly print. He was tall, charming and with gray hair.</p><p>- "Pennyworth... They are closing" - The boy grunted looking bored - "We should go now..." - Alfred took one last look at the counter, as if remembering something from another time and started walking, with the man unknown on his side. Raven felt her heart racing and turning in her chest.</p><p>
  <i>What should she say? She should stop acting on impulse.</i>
</p><p>- "Excuse me, Alfred...?" - Raven grunted when they passed her. The green-eyed man rolled his eyes and stretched his arms as if he had no patience for Raven - "Hi... My name is Raven and... I wrote the letter... - Alfred opened his mouth and closed it again, looking at the grandson who winced, smacking his tongue as he rocked on his heels.</p><p>- "Juliet's letter? Oh god... Thank you... But how did you find us?"</p><p>- "Ah this is an interesting story..." - Raven grunted smiling looking at the boy who now looked at her as if he was shocked by her - "It was your grandson who found me..."</p><p>- "Was?" - Alfred looked confused and then opened a huge smile before looking at the boy.</p><p>- "I thought that-"</p><p>- "Ah he is very sweet..." - Raven said with a fake smile while looking at the boy who looked at her with his mouth open - "A love, charming guy... He told me that you had come to meet me..."</p><p>- "You're not that thoughtful, Master Damian..."</p><p>- "But, I... I thought that due to the circumstances, it would be rude not to know the woman responsible for this nonsense..." - He forced a smile, and Raven returned the same kind of fake smile.</p><p>- "Master Damian doesn't approve, which makes everything more fun..." - Alfred smiled - "We are going for a cup of tea in the hotel's cafe, would you like to accompany us?"</p><p><b>Damian</b>... So that was his name?</p><p>- "Absolutely not..." - He interrupted Alfred, eyebrows raised</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "No... It was a very long day and a tiring trip and-"</p><p>- "So good night, master Damian..." - He grunted with his eyes so calm that it made Raven laugh. As if Damian were a spoiled child who needed to be put to bed - "Can we go?"</p><p>- "I... I know a place where we can go... It's not a cafe, but... They serve excellent food and they certainly have a cup of coffee..."</p><p>- "Great! So come on..." - Alfred smiled following Raven - "So master Damian? Will you accompany us?"</p><p>- "My father would kill me if I let you hang with a stranger, Pennyworth."</p><p>- "Great... Can we go?"</p><p>- "Come..." - She smiled, waving to Alfred next - "I can't believe you're here...!" - Raven smiled and took Alfred and, now known as Damian, to the restaurant of Mrs. Maria, Isabella's mother.</p><p>Raven listened to each story of Alfred about his adopted grandchildren. He never fell in love again and never married. Instead, he dedicated his life to Bruce Wayne and Bruce's children, making them his own family.</p><p>All of Juliet's secretaries were there, listening to Alfred's stories. Raven looked at Damian a few times trying to decipher what he was feeling or trying to see if his facade was breaking, but he still looked as if he wasn't excited by the stories or as if he already knew them all and was too bored of them. hear them again.</p><p>- "And how did you meet Esme?"</p><p>- "Esme was a rising actress, a star in London night... I worked for the British military and was in disguise when I first saw her... I wanted to go out with her on the spot right away because I knew that she was different than I had ever known, it was love at first sight... She was so happy and full of life, dreamy and sweet... She gave me one of her favorite white pearl earrings when I asked her to marry me, which I have carried with me since then as an amulet... But... My life was dangerous, I worked for military intelligence and I collected enemies throughout my life... So, when Esme was kidnapped I realized I would have to choose between her and remain a British spy... We were going to Scotland, starting from 0 with new identities, new lives..." - Alfred took a deep breath - "But... When I saw Esme at the station waiting for me, I stayed scared... I didn't want her to be in danger of being with me, so I just let her go... She would be safe without me..." - He took a deep breath - "I had a friend, Mr Thomas Wayne, master Damian's grandfather, who helped me make a new life in the United States and when he died, I took care of his family as if it were mine... But... what I really want now is to tell her that I'm sorry for being such a coward!"</p><p>- "Surely a letter or a phone call is very simple..." - Damian grunted wryly.</p><p>- "So you decided to look for your Esme? But... why here?"</p><p>- "I have an idea of where she might be..."</p><p>- "Where?"</p><p>- "We had agreed to go to Inverness, Scotland... If she followed this, she will definitely be there." - he took a deep breath - "Master Damian is doing some research, and we will try to draw a map to go there, but I wanted to come here meet you so, Master Damian brought me..."</p><p>- "Just because my father didn't want to let him hitch a ride..."</p><p>- "He thinks this is a big mistake..." - Alfred laughed
- "It's because you don't have a romantic bone in your body"</p><p>- "No..." - Damian rolled his eyes - "It's because I'm a realist..."</p><p>- "Are you by any chance British?"</p><p>- "No... Pennyworth is British... I'm not..."</p><p>- "Cold as a fish..."</p><p>- "If a Brit is cold, who wrote <i>"Romeo and Juliet"</i>? - Damian raised an eyebrow</p><p>- "Williams Shakespeare, a Brit different from most... It happens..." - Donatella grunted smiling - "Look at your grandfather..." - Damian looked at Donatella for a few seconds and then smiled thinly.</p><p>It was the first non-fake smile that Raven saw him give and she had to admit, it was beautiful... <i>Wait, what was she thinking?</i></p><p>- "You are crazy... All of you..." - Everyone laughed and Alfred stood up, walking over to Raven and holding her hand.</p><p>- "Miss Raven..." - He kissed Raven's hand - "Your letter filled me with hope after many years and I am entirely grateful to you... I will never forget you..."</p><p>- "Can we go, Pennyworth? It's getting late..."</p><p>- "Of course..." - He smiled and bowed - "Good night to all of you..."</p><p>- "Good night, Alfred... Good luck"</p><p>- "Arrivederci" - Alfred waved to everyone at the table and then started walking beside Damian, as if telling something very interesting to the boy. Raven watched them still sitting at the table.</p><p>- "Imagine how romantic it would be if he found his Juliet again?"</p><p>- "He's cute... The grandson too..." - Bianca said with raised eyebrows - "Very charming, despite being cold as ice..."</p><p>- "Imagine if he found you after 50 years because of your letter?" - Isabella smiled looking at Raven.</p><p>- "No one would believe it if it wasn't true..." - Raven grunted, watching Alfred and Damian become a figure from a distance.</p><p>At the same moment, something lit up in her mind.</p><p>No one would believe it if it wasn't true... It was the story that deserved to be read and it sure was so inspiring and sweet that it made Raven sigh... It sure would make Lois sigh.</p><p>- "Excuse me, Isabella... I need to go..."</p><p>- "Of course Raven... See you tomorrow?"</p><p>-"Maybe..." - Raven took the bag from the chair and ran towards the figures of Alfred and Damian, almost running out of breath when he reached them. She asked for 5 minutes to compose herself while taking a breath of air.</p><p>- "Hm... Wait..." - Raven muttered - "Wait..."</p><p>- "Oh fuck" - Damian grunted looking at Raven, Alfred gave a stern look to Damian almost instantly, scolding the boy - "Here she comes..."</p><p>- "I'm sorry..." - Raven grunted looking at the two - "But... Can I go with you? Find Esme?"</p><p>- "You want to come with us?" - Damian grunted angrily - "What about your fiancé? Are you in the city of love with your fiance and want to come find someone with us?"</p><p>- "I want!" - Raven answered quickly - "He is busy and I have free time and this is basically my job..." - Raven shrugged - "I look for people and I can help... If it is not too intrusive..."</p><p>- "No... Of course it isn't... Alfred grunted smiling</p><p>- "But... I want to say something first..." - Raven muttered - "It's not entirely uninteresting..." - Raven took a deep breath - "It started with an answer to your letter, but now I think it's so incredible that I would like to write about it..."</p><p>- "She's a journalist!" - Damian cut her off - "She is a journalist like everyone else trying to get an exclusive with our life..."</p><p>- "Master Damian, I'm sorry... It's not a state secret..."</p><p>- "I'm not a journalist at the moment... I intend to be one day..."</p><p>- "And Pennyworth story will help you..." - Raven opened his mouth and closed it again. There was no way she could hit it, since that was exactly it, but putting it that way seemed like a horrible and insensitive thing.</p><p>It wasn't how she wanted it to look to Alfred.</p><p>- "I just... I think it's a story worth telling..."</p><p>- "I would love for you to come with us, Miss Raven..."</p><p>- "Oh really?" - Raven smiled swinging on her heels</p><p>- "Of course?"</p><p>- "How nice...!" - Damian whispered ironically to Raven</p><p>- "Okay... Thank you very much, Alfred..." - Raven hugged Alfred, thanking him immensely for the opportunity and said goodbye to them watching as they drifted away from her again as they turned a street. Damian looked a little disgusted that Alfred had allowed Raven to participate in the search for Esme, but Alfred remained calm. Raven smiled, looking at them in the distance reflecting on Isabella's words:</p><p>
  <i>Imagine he found his Juliet, 50 years later because of your letter?</i>
</p><p>It was just what she wanted at that moment. Alfred deserved to live his love.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6: How many Esme Winikus can there be?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raven wanted to hit her head on the wall a thousand times when she came out of that bathroom. Working with Damian was almost a nightmare, especially when he didn't really want to cooperate. He spent most of the time being annoying and the rest of the time just ignoring her existence...</p><p>Really, how could someone as sweet as Alfred have a grouchy grandson like Damian?</p><p>After agreeing on how they would start looking for Esme, they decided that they would need to go to Milan and then first. Raven was afraid to leave Verona without Tommy, but Tommy was more excited by the idea that they would have more time to do their jobs separately than he had ever been before.</p><p>So Raven just shrugged after that.</p><p>She and Tommy would meet back in Metropolis in two days... It hadn't been Raven's dream honeymoon, but it was like they had always been, both taking care of their business and not sucking on each other. That was how things had worked out for them since Tommy had entered photography school, and even though Raven felt saddened by Tommy's indifference and tactlessness, she didn't think he did it wrong...</p><p>
  <i>He still loved her, right? He had proposed to her.</i>
</p><p>From Milan to Glasgow, Raven, Damian and Alfred took 4 hours of tiring trip and Raven feeling sick again with jet lag... After 7 days she had already gotten used to Verona, now she needed time to get used to the Glasgow climate. Raven had completely forgotten that he was traveling alongside two Wayne's, so when they said they were going to stay in one of the family's lofts, Raven gave a funny laugh.</p><p>They really did have properties spread across Europe ... She wondered why they had so many properties saved if they didn't leave Gotham, but she preferred to keep it to herself. I didn't want to be further annoyed by Damian's irritating and sarcastic humor ...</p><p>It was the first night on a trip with him and she already regretted it bitterly... If it were just Alfred, it would be quiet, Alfred liked to listen and talk and they always had something he knew to say, but Damian...</p><p>In two days, all Raven got from him was acid answers as to why she was the cause of all this happening. Not that she wasn't the cause, but she hoped that after two days he would treat her a little more decently...</p><p>The next day, they made their way to Inverness to the place where Alfred had said and Raven felt the thrill of Alfred running to get to her. Although he remained in his impeccable pose, she could see that with every minute they spent in that car, his hands were shaking. Raven smiled to herself watching this, even after so many years, he was still nervous about seeing great love.</p><p>Raven also noticed that Damian would watch her in the rearview mirror and look away when she realized... There was something about the way he looked at her that made her feel different, as if lightning hit her, an icy shiver ran down her spine every time she watched the green of his eyes.</p><p>After 2 hours of travel they decided to stop at a place on the road to get some rest. Inverness was 3 hours from where they had stayed at they felt they needed to stretch their legs and Raven thanked him for it. So she could go to the bathroom and breathe some fresh air without having to think of Damian looking in the rearview mirror.</p><p>Damian sat on a bench a little farther away from Raven and Alfred while they ate at a convenience store, although Alfred's protests about the food not being healthy enough, he ended up surrendering to a tuna sandwich.</p><p>- "How much time did you spend with Esme?"</p><p>- "Oh every second we could... Her father didn't approve of us then, we had to make hidden meetings after he forbade us to get married... So we met in the backstage where she was performing... We sat between feathers and sequins until dusk, talking about our futures..."</p><p>- "This is so romantic!"</p><p>- "Is it romantic if you are in the middle of sequins?"</p><p>- "It was romantic..."</p><p>- "Esme loved the stage... She loved talking about the dances she would do and the plays she wanted to stage one day... We talked for hours and lay down in the middle of things on the stage that went to the deposit. I still remember the smell of the perfume she wore before going on stage, warm and sweet...</p><p>- "Okay Pennyworth... I get it..." - Alfred smiled watching Damian just roll his eyes, frowning</p><p>- "And you never fell in love like that again..."</p><p>- "No..." - Alfred took a deep breath - "Esme was my only love... After that, I dedicated myself to the Wayne family... I took care of Master Bruce when he was still a child and then his children... No there was no one to take Esme's place, but... I had a life and a new family with me... I knew Esme would be safe without me..."</p><p>- "You are about to find your lost soul mate..."</p><p>- "Yes..."</p><p>- "This soulmate thing doesn't exist, okay...? We are not going to invalidate the existence of what happened after Pennyworth was chosen and that includes my existence..."</p><p>- "Okay, I'm sorry that's not what I meant..." - Raven grunted rolling his eyes.</p><p>- "It doesn't matter," - Damian growled, walking towards the car without looking at them. Raven closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking of going to him when Alfred just shook his head in denial, as if reading her mind.</p><p>- "Master Damian is just like his father, Master Bruce... Two skeptics..." - He smiled lovingly at Raven - "Master Bruce, despite loving all 8 children, adopted and not adopted, has a certain difficulty in showing feelings and come out of the insensitive shell... He would probably say that love is just hormones... - He chuckled - "But deep down, he is a loving father, a passionate husband who does everything for the family... Master Damian is exactly the same..." - Raven frowned looking at distant Damian, while he looked at the map carefully, as if studying the best route.</p><p>It was hard to imagine that he was anything but <i>"rude"</i>, he had only been kind to her at one point in all that time and that was exactly when he said the letter had been very thoughtful...It wasn't like she could imagine him being <i>"romantic"</i></p><p>- "Tell me about the boy who is going to marry you... He must be a lucky man for you to fall in love with him..." - Alfred grunted, pulling Raven's attention back to him. Raven took a deep breath, suddenly paying close attention to the rest of the food she no longer wanted to eat.</p><p>How would she explain to Alfred about Tommy, the groom who wasn't going to the honeymoon with the bride?</p><p>- "Ahnn... Tommy..." - Raven forced a smile - "Tommy is an excellent photographer... He is trying hard to be the best he can be, he got a scholarship in Paris now that he finished college and that's why we went to Verona, he's doing workshops and meeting people who can help him... He was in Livorno at a photography auction and then there would be a workshop that he really wanted to participate in..."</p><p>- "Oh... It looks like fun" - Alfred murmured with a raised eyebrow and Raven took a deep breath drawing with her fingertips on her thigh</p><p>- "For him... Yes, it's quite fun..." - Raven forced a sincere smile, but for some reason he looked more like a grimace. They were silent for a few seconds.</p><p>- "Do your parents like him?"</p><p>- "Yes... Yes, my uncles like him... "- Raven smiled - "I... I never met my father and... My mother left when I was 9..."</p><p>- "Oh my God! I'm sorry, Miss Raven..."</p><p>- "Ah, it's okay... It's been a long time..." - Raven grunted, not knowing if saying that always worked for her.</p><p>Her mother's abandonment was an open wound inside her chest still, even after so many years, but she pretended not to see so as not to hurt. But every time her wedding approached or someone asked, she was forced to look at that wound that she preferred to pretend didn't exist.</p><p>- "We should go..." - Damian grunted - "Apparently we will have rain when we return..."</p><p>- "As you wish, Master Damian..." - Alfred grunted, before looking at Raven again who tried with all his being to push those sensations in again. She didn't want to have red eyes when Alfred found Esme.</p><p>Raven spent the rest of the 1 hour trip exchanging messages with Tommy, trying to play the sensation that remained in her chest after talking to Alfred under the rug. Not that Tommy said anything that she was interested in.</p><p>When the car arrived in Inverness, Alfred was giving the coordinates through the city streets, Damian was silent, following what Alfred said until they stopped in front of a red brick house, small white windows and a wooden door.</p><p>There was a small garden at the door, surrounded by a white wall and black iron gate. It was charming and small, it seemed to be a couple made for just one couple. They got out of the car and Alfred stood there, looking at the house, probably thinking about the future they might have had.</p><p>- "So..." - Damian muttered as he put the phone in his pocket - "How do you want to do that?"</p><p>- "Well..." - Alfred fixed his impeccable posture and walked slowly to the iron gate - "I am English, master Damian... I do the only thing possibly polite, I ring the bell..."</p><p>- "Right..." - Damian grunted, putting his hands in his coat pocket.</p><p>Alfred walked slowly to the iron gate and opened it carefully, and then walked to the door. Raven noticed him take a few deep breaths while before his fingers slipped to the doorbell. Raven felt the thrill hit her so hard that every nerve in her seemed to ignite with excitement. Damian didn't seem to share the same excitement. He walked up and down, taking out and putting his hands out of his pocket until he decided to go to Alfred.</p><p>- "What if her husband answers and has a jealousy range?" - Damian grunted between his teeth. Alfred just shook his head laughing while Damian still looked at the old man as if demanding an answer.</p><p>- "Well ... - Alfred said still laughing, looking at Raven - "I would be flattered..." - they stayed there a few more seconds in complete silence, waiting for the door to open, until Alfred took a deep breath - "I'm more worried about she doesn't remember me..."</p><p>- "Okay" - Damian grunted holding Alfred's arm, looking impatient - "So let's go home, Pennyworth, before it ends in tears..." - Alfred looked at Damian for long seconds and then, looked at the door again, while he seemed to weigh pros and cons of following what Damian was proposing. Raven couldn't believe that after all that effort to get there, Damian simply wanted to leave - "Come on, there's nobody here..."</p><p>- "Let's see in the window..." - Raven grunted rolling his eyes, walking across the low lawn to the small white window.</p><p>- "We did everything, why prolong this disappointment?"</p><p>- "Why don't you-" The door made a noise and then opened to show a short woman with gray hair and round glasses and a red black polka dot dress with a blue coat over it, almost as eccentric as Donatella.</p><p>- "Yes...?" - Raven, Damian and Alfred returned to their former positions in front of the door. Raven now getting a grimace of irritation from Damian</p><p>- "Good morning..."</p><p>- "Good morning..." - Alfred said with a smile on his lips, making a slight bow to the woman in front of him - "Are you Esme Winikus?" - The woman looked at Alfred, then at Raven and Damian and then nodded.</p><p>- "Yes, it's me... Esme Winikus..."</p><p>- "Good morning, Mrs. Esme" - Damian said approaching Alfred - "My name is Damian Wayne. This is my... My grandfather, Alfred Pennyworth and this is..." - He looked at Raven and frowned - "This is Raven..."</p><p>- "Good morning..." - Esme grunted looking at the three.Raven felt her heart sink to her stomach. This woman did not seem to remember who Alfred Pennyworth was and if that happened, her heart would never be forgiven. Alfred looked at her as if trying to find something that told her he was Esme, some reminiscent of decades ago that took him back to the moments behind the scenes of the places where she performed.</p><p>- "I'm Alfred, don't you remember?" - The woman frowned as if trying to remember</p><p>- "Alfred..." - Damian grunted, placing his hand carefully on Alfred's back - "We should go... This lady clearly don't-"</p><p>- "It's not her..." - Alfred said turning to Damian and Raven</p><p>- "What?" - Damian and Raven said in unison</p><p>- "Are you sure?"</p><p>- "It's not her eyes..." - Alfred said gently - "Esme had blue eyes like yours, Miss Raven... They brought the peace and calm of the skies of a summer day..." - Raven nodded - "I'm sorry, Mrs. Esme... We were wrong..." - The woman nodded</p><p>- "Let's make sure" - Damian grunted impatiently - "Were you a dancer in London in 1957?"</p><p>- "Ah I was a dancer in London... The stages were my home..." - She smiled, wistful - "I met the most beautiful and kind man in the world, with black hair, a gentleman like a prince and smelling of expensive perfume... We got married that year" - Damian and Alfred looked at each other and Alfred stifled a laugh with his hand. Raven grimaced and wrinkled her nose and Damian looked confused - "That damn man! I curse that man!"</p><p>- "Wait, what?" - Damian stammered</p><p>- "I curse his eyes, I curse his teeth, I curse the yawn he had on the tip of his nose..." - Damian opened his mouth and closed it again, preferring to walk back towards the car where Alfred and Raven were almost in tears from laughing... - "Why the question?" - The woman shouted from a distance - "Why bring this bad memory?" - They got into the car quickly while the woman continued to curse and swear at the door.</p><p>Raven and Alfred burst out laughing while Damian remained serious. Cold as a fish, said Donatella.</p><p>- "Well, it went very well..." - Damian muttered turning to Alfred - "Can't say we didn't try, Pennyworth... I'm sorry... Let's go back to Gotham and-"</p><p>- "Are you serious?" - Raven grunted putting her hand on the seat, forcing Damian to look at her</p><p>- "I would even answer you if I knew what you mean..." - He said without expression - "She must not be the only Esme Winikus in the UK..." - Damian raised an eyebrow at the woman at the door, still raging against their car.</p><p>- "Well, she's the only one here..."</p><p>- "I didn't cross the continent to give up on the first attempt, Master Damian..."</p><p>- "What do you want to do? Knocking door to door across the country asking for Esme?" - Alfred looked at Raven and Raven looked at Damian, eyebrow raised</p><p>- "Well... How many should there be?"</p><p>- "There is a way to find out..." - Alfred muttered, looking at Damian.</p><p>They drove back to Glasgow, Raven and Alfred making plans to be able to find Esme across Glasgow and London while Damian remained silent, now and then smacking his tongue. Raven wanted to ask him why he felt so compelled to participate in this if he didn't want to...</p><p>It was like having an old grouch in the car.</p><p>And looking at him like that, it was impossible to imagine what Alfred had said... Damian was too closed for anything, barely showing any reaction other than cracking his tongue and rolling his eyes... On some very rare occasions he frowned or gave a thin smile that was too false for Raven's opinion.</p><p>In the Glasgow loft, while Damian used his laptop full of technological gadgets, Raven and Alfred were enjoying a good cup of tea. Alfred continued to ask Raven about Tommy and each time Raven talked about how normal it was that they were distant, less normal it seemed.</p><p>- "So..." - Damian grunted looking up from the front of the computer - "We have 412 miles between London and Glasgow... Dozens and dozens of cities... It would take weeks or even months before we managed to go from city to citizen, but..."</p><p>- 412 miles? - Raven grunted, sipping her tea</p><p>- "Yes..."</p><p>- "Holy shit... It didn't seem so much when we came..."</p><p>- "We came by plane..." - Damian rolled his eyes - "Anyway... We can put a search parameter and..."</p><p>- "So..."</p><p>- "74!" - Damian grunted angrily - "74 Esme Winikus and you want to go on a hunt? Impossible... We are going home tomorrow morning..." - Damian grunted hitting the laptop screen</p><p>- "Calm down master Damian..." - Alfred grunted in his calmest possible tone. Raven crossed his arms looking at the two men. She wondered where Alfred practiced that patience having to endure Damian's tantrums over and over again - "Miss Raven... What do you think?"</p><p>- "What do you mean with <i>'what she thinks'</i>?" - Damian said angrily - "She doesn't think! It was her idea... Okay we found Nemo, the curtain has already closed..."</p><p>- "Raven..."</p><p>- "Well, this is my job... I find things through the process of elimination and, <i>caveat emptor</i>, considering some more facts we can reduce and quite this list..."</p><p>- "Miss Wonderful just finished using <i>caveat emptor¹</i>? - Damian said looking at Alfred"</p><p>- "Oh please! I studied at the University of Metropolis and San Francisco, two degrees and I studied Latin."</p><p>- "I already put all the factors on that list, Raven..." - Damian grunted - "This is completely crazy."</p><p>- "Master Damian, why don't you go take a shower and eat something? I think you must be tired after hours of traveling..."</p><p>- "This is crazy, Alfred!"</p><p>- "We are working, if you don't mind..."</p><p>- "And I am here..."</p><p>- "Master Damian, bath... Now..." - Damian snorted and rolled his eyes, getting up from the chair and leaving the two of them like the spoiled child he always seemed to be. Alfred might not be Damian's biological grandfather, but he imposed his will perfectly well, as a grandfather should be</p><p>- "I can't believe... Master Damian is acting ridiculously, I'm sorry..."</p><p>- "It's okay..." - Raven grunted, watching Damian walk away from where they were heading towards the rooms. Raven found herself watching Damian's black hairline, his broad back and how his shirt was tight in his arms. Alfred followed where Raven was looking and smiled.</p><p>- "Despite the insistence on being an unbearable person and that keeps people away, Master Damian is a very handsome boy... Don't you think Miss Raven?"</p><p>- "Er... What?" - Alfred had a raised eyebrow and an amused smile on his lips. Raven shook his head laughing, was she going crazy or was Alfred trying to push Damian to her?</p><p>
  <i>Not in a million years would she be involved with someone like Damian</i>
</p><p>- "Going back to work..." - Raven grunted still laughing - "You need to consider other facts..." - Raven took a deep breath - "Let's put our starting point in Glasgow... We already know that she is not in Inverness so, she may have I got off the train in Glasgow and stayed here ... Hm ... I need a map ...- Raven scratched his chin - Alfred, can I borrow her earring? Alfred smiled and took the earring he wore as a brooch on his shirt and handed it to Raven along with a map. Raven opened the map on the center table of the room, noting the names of the cities that appeared there</p><p>- "Are you sure Esme wouldn't go to another country?"</p><p>- "Oh she loved the UK, I'm sure..."</p><p>- "Okay... Here comes the magic..." - She smiled and took the necklace she wore, measured the length of the map with the necklace and in the measure, she put the earring on one end and a pen on the other - "Considering that we are here... So..." - Raven put the tip of the necklace with the earring in Glasgow and made a circle with the pen - "Here are our Esmes Winikus..." - Raven said smiling looking at the map</p><p>- "Are you sure you have time for this?" - Alfred asked, a small frown of concern growing between his eyebrows. Raven wanted to say no, he meant that probably, Tommy would tell her to come back, but... The truth is that until the end of her vacation, she had all the time in the world.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and picked up the phone, dialing Tommy's number and putting it on speakerphone, after 3 rings, Tommy answered, speaking softly</p><p>
  <i>- "Hello? Hi my love..." </i>
</p><p>- "Hi..."</p><p>
  <i>- "Are you okay?"</i>
</p><p>- "I'm fine and you?"</p><p>
  <i>- "I can't talk much now, I'm in a fantastic workshop now... But how are you?"</i>
</p><p>- "Hm well... We just got back from Inverness... I'm in Glasgow now..."</p><p>
  <i>- "What? Glasgow? What are you doing in Glasgow?"</i>
</p><p>- "I told you... I'm writing a story..." - Raven grunted

<i>- "Ah... Yes... Of course... But you told me you were going to Milan and London..."</i>

</p><p>- "And Scotland..." - Raven took a deep breath.</p><p>
  <i>Did he ever pay attention to anything she said?</i>
</p><p>- "We are in a kind of adventure, looking for someone he met 50 years ago..."</p><p>
  <i>- "Oh... Okay, you know baby... Now is not a good time, I'm busy, I'm glad you called because I was about to call you... An opportunity came to visit the campus in Paris and it's a really really opportunity good and i will only come back next week..."</i>
</p><p>- "Are you coming back next week?" - Raven took a deep breath squeezing the bridge of her nose</p><p>
  <i>- "Yes, in time for our wedding... Should I go or not...? I feel bad..."</i>
</p><p>- "I know, please stay... I... I will need time too, maybe until next week..."</p><p><i>- "Oh great... So see you Friday next week, okay? Bye..."</i> - And before Raven answered, Tommy disconnected the call. Alfred looked at Raven with a look that she couldn't say what it meant and Damian had gotten out of the shower, drying his hair with a towel. Raven took a deep breath and looked at the two.</p><p>- "Well ... I'm free until next week..." - Raven smirked and Alfred smiled</p><p>- "Free for what?" - Damian grunted looking at her and Alfred, with the towel in his hair</p><p>- "She comes with us!"</p><p>- "She comes..." - Damian repeated with a funny tone, a little ironic and a little disbelieving what he was hearing - "Expended... Fantastic..." - Raven arched an eyebrow looking at Damian who just caught him turned his back and went into the kitchen, ignoring Raven and Alfred's laughter.</p><p>In the days that followed, Raven, Alfred and Damian spent hours and hours together in the car, looking for Esme Winikus inside the circle on the map Raven had drawn. Raven took the opportunity to write the story at that time, almost never paying attention to Damian's provocations, or how he looked more often in the rearview mirror for her.</p><p>In the first Esme on the map, she wasn't Alfred's beloved, but she was an intelligent and very beautiful woman... And told Alfred to come back to her if he didn't find his Esme.</p><p>On the second attempt, they didn't even talk to the woman, but Raven could see Damian laugh out loud when the woman who appeared was dressed in such minimal clothes that they wondered how she managed.</p><p>On the third attempt, they arrived at a huge mansion, with a splendid garden in the front and white rose bushes all around.</p><p>- "It would be nice, wouldn't it?" - Damian grunted looking at the rose bushes as they walked back to the car after again not being the Esme they were looking for and Alfred being courted by the hundredth woman - "From London night dancer to millionaire living in a mansion as big as our... So you would skip the difficulties..."</p><p>- "Life is full of difficulties, Master Damian..." - Alfred grunted smiling</p><p>- "Why do all British women fall at your feet?" - Raven grunted smiling</p><p>- "What a pity..." - Damian murmured looking away reaching the approaching road towards them - "I could have been happy here..."</p><p>- "Happy?" - Raven raised an eyebrow looking at Damian - "Wait, Alfred... Did Damian talk about being happy?"</p><p>- "I said I could be..." - He replied, getting serious again - "Don't get carried away, I have a reputation..." - Raven laughed and rolled her eyes, pulling back against the seat as the car rolled down the road.</p><p>The ride back to the loft was warmer than before, Damian was still like an insensitive block of ice, always making an acid comment about something, but he wasn't silent in his hate bubble and Raven even saw him smile more as they went back to Glasgow. Alfred decided to make a pasta for dinner and open a bottle of wine.</p><p>Damian seemed to have a certain fear of drinking something alcoholic, but ended up giving in to a glass after Raven's insistence. They talked about many things while Alfred was cooking and then having dinner and spending a lot of time talking about the things that Damian did as a child, Alfred took a deep breath and looked at his grandson.</p><p>- "Master Damian," - Alfred said taking the dishes from the table and putting them in the sink - "Why don't you tell Raven about your volunteer work?"</p><p>- "I don't imagine she would be interested..." - Damian grunted, indifferent</p><p>- "Try me..." - Raven grunted looking at Damian, leaning on his elbows</p><p>- "Well... This thing of NGOs for animals and defense for refugees and the environment..." - Damian shrugged and Raven felt his mouth opening, surprised. She didn't imagine that Damian Wayne, that spoiled boy in front of her, cared about others besides himself...</p><p>
  <i>Especially with animals...</i>
</p><p>- "You look surprised..."</p><p>- "I'm really surprised..." - Raven murmured - "I didn't think you were the <i>"Save the world"</i> type"</p><p>- "Really...? And what kind did you think I was?"</p><p>- "Well... I was undecided between the spoiled boy of Havard or Yale... It also serves an idealistic type who wants self-satisfaction..." - Raven replied, shrugging as he raised the glass of wine to his lips.</p><p>- "You don't know how to judge people..."</p><p>- "But she deals with facts..." - Alfred said laughing - "Well... I'm going to sleep..."</p><p>- "Okay" - Damian grunted getting up - "Good night Miss Raven..." - Alfred said giving a kiss on the top of Raven's forehead</p><p>- "Good night Alfred, sleep well..."</p><p>- "Do you want me to accompany you?" - Damian grunted, suddenly looking nervous</p><p>- "No need... Finish your wine glass..."</p><p>- "Okay..." - Raven saw Damian say between his teeth- "Be well, children..." - He smiled and left the kitchen, leaving Raven and Damian silent for long minutes. Damian took a deep breath and sat down at the table, suddenly too interested in his wine glass while avoiding looking at Raven.</p><p>- "He's awesome..." - Raven muttered, drinking wine. Damian smirked and rolled his eyes</p><p>- "In that case I respect that word..."</p><p>- "Thank you for your approval..." - Raven said wryly laughing, while holding the cup on the table with both hands.</p><p>- "You're welcome..."</p><p>- "HAHA" - Raven grimaced. He was looking at her now and she felt strangely exposed. It was like he could see something more about her than she showed. There was something about his eyes that made her feel that way and she didn't like how he made her feel because it wasn't a bad feeling, but it was unknown.</p><p>- "Right, um... Should we... hit the sack??" - Raven almost choked on the wine and looked at Damian with eyebrows together. He looked embarrassed, a light shade of pink tinting his cheeks, breaking the mask of indifference he always had.</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "Sorry..." - He grunted drinking the rest of the wine in a sip - "Hm... I mean, we should go to sleep... I... I would love to stay and take the whole bottle but..."</p><p>- "No, go to bed..." - Raven said trying to be serious while stifling a laugh - "Good night, Damian..."</p><p>- "Okay..." - He took a deep breath and nodded and Raven thought it was funny how nervous he was about it. He got up and put his hand in his pocket walking towards the rooms leaving Raven thoughtful on the table about what had happened, before turning on his heel and looking at Raven again - "Sorry, where is my manners..."</p><p>- "It's what I want to know since I met you..."</p><p>- "I don't know what it is, you always wake up the worst in me..."</p><p>- "Oh... Here he was again..." - Raven laughed wryly - "So it's my fault...?" - Raven tilted her head to the side trying to understand if he was being ironic or if he was being different from what she had known.</p><p>- "Yeah, this is all your fault... You wrote that damn letter!" - He took a deep breath and straightened his posture - "However... Can I accompany you to your room?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>¹caveat emptor: used for saying that the person who buys something must take responsibility for the quality of goods that he or she is buying.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7: Pretty Stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>- Can I accompany you to your room?</i>
</p><p>Raven took a deep breath trying to think if he heard correctly. His voice was different and she didn't know if it was because of the wine or if he was really trying to be kind to her, but she felt dizzy</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "Can I accompany you to your room?"</p><p>- "Hm... Of course... Let me just... Put these glass in the sink and..."</p><p>- "Leave it there... "- He grunted, holding her wrist before she took the glass. A lightning bolt ran down her spine when his hand spun around her wrist and she looked at him, a deadly silence living between the two young men - "Erm... Pennyworth doesn't like other people to come into his kitchen..." - He hurried to say, withdrawing his hand again. Raven swallowed and nodded and dropped the cup, feeling her heart beat in her chest. Damian made room for her to pass and then followed her in silence through the dark living room to the hallway that washed the bedrooms.</p><p>- "Hm... You know... I'm not the conservative killjoy you think..." - Damian grunted behind her</p><p>- "Okay, so and I made you say that love is bullshit?"</p><p>- "Okay, guilty..." - He grunted with a smile and then took a deep breath - "It's just... I'm really worried about him... I know that he may seem carefree and that he doesn't care, but his life it wasn't that simple... Shouldn't I worry...?"</p><p>- "No, of course you should..." - Raven muttered, stopping at her bedroom door - "But I have had a good feeling about it since the day you came to me in Verona... You will see..."</p><p>- "I hope you're right..."</p><p>- "I hope too..." - Raven smiled - "Hm... Good night, Damian..." - He nodded, looking at Raven's face as if he wanted to keep every detail of her face. They stood there, looking at each other and Raven found herself paying too much attention to how soft his lips looked and how his eyes were so vivid green with little shades of gold that she hadn't seen before.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and shook her head, what was she thinking?</p><p>She took a deep breath and opened the bedroom door before hearing anything else from Damian. Did she feel strange, because she was feeling that way? Raven threw herself on the bed and tried to text Tommy but ended up sending just an "I love you" when she noticed that she was really thinking about Damian's lips again.</p><p>It was ridiculous, she shouldn't have thought that when she was engaged to another guy, especially someone like Damian Wayne.</p><p>Raven hugged the pillow and just tried to sleep, it was the alcohol from the 3 glasses of wine she drank and it didn't deserve her concern. The next day would be more and more of Esme's searches and she couldn't let that occupy her mind.</p><p>The next day, they decided that they would be staying at a hotel on the way. It was not possible to continue the journey, going down to London and returning to Glasgow every night so the most certain thing was to stay on the way.</p><p>Raven still felt awkward from the event the night before and from the way that Damian seemed to want something he didn't know he could have, but she pushed it in with all her doubts.She knew she was just thinking too much and knew it was the paranoia that made her think too much. Tommy's lack and all the other things she had been thinking about, like his neglect and inattention to her, was making her see that as something else. Damian should probably be dizzy from the wine and the way he didn't like her, she was probably also under the influence of alcohol.</p><p>Raven could see that Damian was less irritable with her. Now, he didn't make acid comments about her presence there, which was enough compared to the previous days, although he still looked in the rearview mirror when he thought she was not paying attention and at times, Raven noticed that he looked a little nervous.</p><p>They traveled to three more cities with no success and Raven started to feel as if Alfred started to lose faith, there are still 7 or 8 more places on the map for them to go but with each no, she felt Alfred's frustration growing. Before long, Alfred had won a large part of her heart and she would hate to see him suffer for something she caused. She took a deep breath and put her hand on Alfred's shoulder after another failed attempt as they drove to a city hotel, trying to be as positive as possible.</p><p>- "We are not finished yet..." - Raven murmured looking at Alfred. He smiled back, holding her hand</p><p>- "Of course we're not finished..." - He murmured, turning to look at the road with a distant look, lost among the infinite horizon of pastures. Damian remained silent this time, but looked in the rearview mirror again at Raven and she could almost swear she saw a thin smile threaten to come out of the corner of his lips, before he looked back at the road again.</p><p>When they arrived at the hotel, Raven ran for a hot shower, Alfred said nothing about dinner and neither did Damian so she decided that she would order room service to take advantage of the time and scan her notes. She had written down a lot in the past few days about Alfred, Damian and Esme and the lost 50-year letter that she just didn't know where to start. A hot bath and food would help her to relax and think about.</p><p>She didn't know how long she had been sitting at that desk scanning her notes and turning them into decent and acceptable material, but she felt like her brain was working at a thousand, an hour, everything fit perfectly, when someone knocked on the door.</p><p>- "Come in" - She didn't want to lose her reasoning so she didn't get up, but... Who would be hitting her room?</p><p>- "Hello?"</p><p>- "Hello!" - She almost screamed, her voice going up an octave, looking up from the computer to find Damian leaning against the frame, wearing an incredibly beautiful black polo shirt and an awkward smile on his face - "Ahnn.... Hi...!" - Raven got up quickly, adjusting her clothes while she felt her muscles protesting that she got up so quickly after sitting in the same position for a long time - "Is Alfred with you?"</p><p>- "Ah... No... No... He... He went to sleep earlier... I had come to invite you to dinner but... Apparently you already had dinner..."</p><p>- "Ah... I just wanted to start writing my story..."</p><p>- "How is it going?"</p><p>- "It's going well..."</p><p>- "Am I in it?"</p><p>- "Maybe... Why?"</p><p>- "I can read?"</p><p>- "What?" - Raven grunted running to the laptop before it reached and closing in one click</p><p>- "Just a piece...!" - He grunted with an amused smile on his lips as he tried to take the computer from Raven's hands</p><p>- "Absolutely not..."</p><p>- "How will I know if I was portrayed correctly?" - Damian said crossing his arms while looking at Raven and she opened her mouth to say how he deserved to be portrayed but closed it again, seeing that he was smiling.</p><p>He was different, maybe it wasn't just the wine, maybe things had really started out wrong and he now wanted to fix it.</p><p>- "You can believe you're being perfectly represented..."</p><p>- "What does this mean?"</p><p>- "It means good night, Damian..." - he looked at her and tried to protest, but turned back when Raven held his arms lightly and started pushing him back to the door where he had entered - "Good night... It's just what that means..." - She took a deep breath when he stopped walking, crossing his arms under his chest and licking his lip with a smile. Raven had to remind herself how to breathe. He took a deep breath and turned on his heel to open the door but then turned to Raven as if remembering to say something - "Good night, Damian..." - Raven repeated emphatically, her eyebrows raised as she pulled him out the door while he laughed and shook his head. Raven took a deep breath and leaned against the door, biting her lip until she heard his laughter on the other side - "What? Are you still there?"</p><p>- "Uhhnn... Yes..." - His voice was muffled by the wooden door - "I'm sorry if I'm wrong but, is this one of those situations where you say the opposite of what you want?" - Raven grimaced...</p><p>
  <i>By chance he was suggested that maybe she wanted to-</i>
</p><p>- "No... This is definitely not one of those situations..."</p><p>- "Ahnn... Right... Good night, Raven..."</p><p>- "Good night, Damian..." - Raven stayed there, hoping to make sure he went to sleep until he decided to lie down. Damian's visit made her lose all the rhythm she was in and she had already written a lot too. Raven threw herself on the bed, trying to sleep.</p><p>What was happening to them?<br/>
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>The next day, Raven woke up early, the sun was hitting the window and she heard the sound of birds singing somewhere near her window and after turning over like a worm in bed, she decided to take a coffee and continue her notes, they they would only go out in the afternoon to look for Esme so she would have a few hours of inspiration and peace to write without having the rocking of the car disturbing her writing.</p><p>Raven took a morning shower, brushed her teeth and put on a short summer dress. It was sunny, there was no reason for her to put on a cold suit like on other days and she wanted to feel a little tourist once. She asked for a cup of black coffee to wake up and took advantage of the little movement to write. Apparently neither Damian nor Alfred had woken up yet or if they were awake, they decided not to disturb her.</p><p>Raven found this for only half an hour, when Damian appeared with wet hair and a dark green turtleneck shirt. Why did he sometimes look like a YALE playboy and why did he sometimes look like he came straight out of a 90s movie?</p><p>- "Good morning, Raven..." - He said turning an apple in his hands</p><p>- "Erm... Good morning, Damian..." - Raven grunted, looking up from his notebook quickly - "Woke up early?"</p><p>- "I always wake up at 5 to exercise..."</p><p>- "Ah..." - Raven nodded and went back to writing. Damian remained standing, tossing the apple from hand to hand looking uneasy. He always looked like this when he was close to her, as if he wanted to say something, as if he were about to shout something at her that she couldn't see</p><p>- "Ahnn... Pennyworth is still sleeping..."</p><p>- "He is fine? Does he need anything?"</p><p>- "He's fine... He's strong... Ex-military thing" - He smiled awkwardly as if making a joke that only he understood, but scratching his throat when he noticed Raven with raised eyebrows - "Ahnn... I... I thought about taking a walk around Warrington since we're here..."</p><p>- "Good idea..." - Raven grunted trying to be positive. She didn't want to take the vibe out of his good mood while it lasted... From the wine glasses, Damian tried to be the least kind to her and she even thought it was cute how he fumbled at times...</p><p>She didn't want him to go back to surly mode</p><p>- "Ahnn... You will..." - He rocked on his heels - "You will want to keep writing there, right?" - Raven opened her mouth and closed it again, tapping the pen on the notebook trying to reflect if she had misunderstood.</p><p>Was he calling her?</p><p>- "Ahnn... Yeah... Yeah..." - She took a deep breath</p><p>- "Work, work, work..." - He grunted with a nervous smile - "Character admirable..." - Raven gave a half wave before grimaced, her eyebrows almost coming together.</p><p>Okay, that was so much stranger... Was he praising her?</p><p>Or was he being ironic?The silence grew between them like a weed and he seemed more nervous than before, seeming to weigh what was going on in Raven's head or if what he had said was bullshit before shaking his head with his eyes closed.</p><p>- "Wants to know? Go on, then..." - He pursed his lips in a thin line before making a thumbs up and walking quickly, still throwing the apple up. Raven rolled her eyes and laughed, trying to absorb that conversation, but let it go.</p><p>She needed to take a walk and be a tourist at least once on this trip, to walk a little somewhere and not just from hotel to car and from car to hotel.</p><p>- "Erm... Damian..." - She grunted, putting the notepad in her purse and getting up, reaching it on the green lawn of the hotel, he stopped walking and turned to Raven, watching her approach him with her arms crossed - Since we're here ... Can I go with y-"</p><p>- "Erm... Of course" - His voice went up an octave and then he scratched his throat and tried to recompose his posture - "I mean, of course if you want to and... You don't have anything else interesting to do... I mean, I can perfectly well go alone and-"</p><p>- "Damian, I want to go..." - Raven grunted laughing, as she took him by the arm and pulled him out of the hotel.</p><p>They walked a long stretch of Grappehall Heys Walled Garden almost in complete silence. Raven didn't know how to start talking to him and he seemed to look everywhere but at her, while he was undecided whether to put his hands in his pants pocket or back.</p><p>That garden was beautiful and Raven felt for the first time in almost 15 days away from Metropolis as if she were a true tourist. She was always going to walk around Verona irritated by something Tommy had marked and she didn't even go everywhere she wanted to go, but there, she was happy.</p><p>They walked in silence to a bridge with a lake full of water lilies below. Damian leaned against the bridge and stared into the distance, while Raven stared at the water beneath them, now and then, watching for some fish deep inside.</p><p>- "I don't like to praise you" - Raven grunted after a few seconds of complete silence and just the noise of the birds above them - "But what you did for Alfred is sweet..." - Damian looked at her over his shoulder - "I mean... I imagine that you wanted to spend your vacation somewhere else, so... Did you volunteer or did your parents force you?"</p><p>- "Erm..." - Damian took a deep breath and looked at the floor, his face unintelligible - "My father doesn't have time for this... I was the only one available and Pennyworth has been doing a lot for me since I arrived at that house... And my mother..." - Damian took a deep breath, throwing a pebble into the water - "I like to think that she is in a better place..." - He swallowed hard - "She died in a plane crash when I turned 12... She had left me with my father when I was 10..." - Raven turned to him, her head tilted to the side as she controlled the urge to hug him and say that everything was fine. He looked hurt by it, like her old wound and she understood well the sense of loss he had. And even though his father was still alive, he still felt alone.</p><p>Raven could perfectly understand Damian's overprotection over Alfred, she would be like that, too, if it were the other way around.</p><p>- "I'm sorry..." - Raven took a deep breath looking at her feet in embarrassment - "Oh god, I'm sorry..."</p><p>- "Thank you Raven... I really appreciate..." - He gave a thin smile, but sincere to her inviting her to walk beside him - "It was a difficult time... They were separated, but my father lost someone that he liked and I lost my mother... I think that's why I don't believe in happy endings, after all. But... Pennyworth took care of an angry and unpleasant boy and made him the unsympathetic man that I am today..." - He grunted smiling. He had a beautiful smile, he should use it more often.</p><p>- "So he did a great job..." - Raven smiled</p><p>- "So... Your fiance isn't feeling alone?"</p><p>- "No... He must be having fun now, he hardly noticed that I wasn't there... And you? Have a girlfriend?"</p><p>- "That's a long story..."</p><p>- "I'm not surprised..."</p><p>- "I haven't seen Emiko in a year..."</p><p>- "And you broke up with her..." Raven grunted, arching an eyebrow. Damian opened his mouth smiling and pointed at himself.</p><p>- "Wait, are you implying that I'm the type who gets dumped instead of dumped?" - Raven pouted and shrugged laughing</p><p>- "Maybe I am...?"</p><p>- "For your information, I'm the one who broke up with her..." - He shrugged</p><p>- "If you're saying..." - Raven laughed- "So... Are you going to let me read your story or not?"</p><p>- "Isn't ready yet..."</p><p>- "I don't care..." - he frowned - "You are so devoted to this notebook that I wanted to know what you are writing..."</p><p>- "Let's have an ice cream..." - Raven grunted laughing, walking in front of him without looking back. Damian stood there calling her until he decided to give in and not argue with her. They walked a long way until they left the garden and found an ice cream parlor. Raven has wanted to eat Italian ice cream since she planned to go to Verona, and ended up eating ice cream in a city in the United Kingdom.</p><p>Damian chose an vanilla ice cream and Raven chose a mint ice cream and the two sat outside the ice cream shop, watching the movement of the city and the red brick houses, until Damian demanded that she finally let him read her notes.</p><p>Raven handed the notebook fearfully to him, regretting it bitterly the moment he started reading. After almost 20 minutes in complete silence and expressionlessness, Raven started to get impatient.</p><p>- "That's enough..." - She grunted. Damian just ignored it and continued reading while devouring the ice cream, ignoring the apprehensive look she was giving him - "Okay... That's enough..." - She held the notebook and with difficulty pulled it out of his hand. Putting the notebook back in the bag.</p><p>- "Raven..."</p><p>- "It is enough..."</p><p>- "You write really well..."</p><p>- "Thanks."</p><p>- "No... It's really, really, really good..."</p><p>- "Why are you so surprised?"</p><p>- "Why don't you show your work?"</p><p>- "Well... This was the first time I had the courage to ask my boss for an opportunity..."</p><p>- "And why didn't you show it to her before?"</p><p>- "I never think it's finished..."</p><p>- "Why?"</p><p>- "Because do I think I'm a perfectionist..."</p><p>- "Bullshit... This is another way of saying that you are fearful." - He said with a stupid smile on his face as he boasted that he was right as he put his elbows on the table - "You have nothing to fear, you're not a private detective for a stupid newspaper, you are a journalist...!" - Raven looked at him for a few seconds, his face no more than a foot from hers with a victorious smile on his face.</p><p>She wished she could get that smile out of him in some way... Who did he dare to say something about her and still call her fearful? Raven, in a moment of complete childishness, passed the ice cream on his face and he made a confused face, not understanding what was happening. Raven chuckled seeing him standing looking at her trying to understand what was going on</p><p>- "What was this..."</p><p>- "I'm not afraid..."</p><p>- "And I'm not a gentleman..." - He grunted looking to the side before doing the same thing to Raven, smearing her face with ice cream and making her squeak. Damian laughed looking at her in shock looking at him.</p><p>- "Okay, I deserved it..."</p><p>- "I didn't say anything but I can agree..."</p><p>- "Hm... We should go back to Alfred..."</p><p>- "Okay... Come on... There are still a lot of Esmes out there..." - He smiled unassuming, before trying to get Raven dirty with the ice cream again and the two got their hands melting.</p><p>They went back to the hotel and Alfred was already awake and ready, he looked at the two young people and said absolutely nothing, just smiled and said he would wait for them in the car. Raven ran to the toilet to wash her hand and 20 minutes later, they returned to their journey after Esme.</p><p>When they returned to the hotel at the end of the night, Alfred suggested that they all go for a glass of wine, but to Raven's surprise, only Damian appeared waiting for her, leaning against the bar.</p><p>Damian explained that Alfred had said he was tired and unwell and needed to rest, but that he shouldn't leave her alone in a bar because that wasn't a gentleman's attitude and that was why he was there alone. Raven laughed and nodded. They talked a lot as the bar slowly filled with laughter and Raven found herself watching Damian more than she really wanted to. She must have been in the third or fourth glass when he told her a story of how he almost killed one of the brothers by throwing him off a giant plastic dinosaur when he was a child and Raven didn't know if she was laughing at the giant dinosaur or the story that he was counting.</p><p>- "So..." - Raven grunted between laughter - "Do you know what you are?</p><p>- "Um...?" - Damian grunted drinking the rest of his glass</p><p>- "You are Montecchio and Capuleto..."</p><p>- "What do you mean?" - He grimaced - "Oh... At least I'm not Romeo..."</p><p>- "You don't even have to talk! Do you think he was bullshit too..."</p><p>- "I'm right, let me show you!" - He grunted laughing - "Because if I found the love of my life, I wouldn't be like an idiot whispering in the garden... I would pull her off that balcony and that's it... I would face anything to have her with me..." - He leaned towards her and Raven felt her heart stop beating when he licked his bottom lip and then he pulled away from her again as if trying to tease her in some way she didn't want to think about - "And I wasn't going to kill her and accidentally kill myself on a highly flawed plan" - Raven laughed, her head falling back</p><p>- "Unbelievable..."- She grunted still laughing - "And you believe in destiny?"</p><p>- "You believe?" - Raven looked at him for a few seconds, reflecting on the question he had answered. She was dizzy from the wine but for some reason, she was perfectly fine. Did she believe in destiny? Raven couldn't say.</p><p>But given the circumstances of the past few days, she could totally and completely believe in destiny and its gears and plots, weaving paths between people who should know each other.</p><p>She had to meet Alfred Pennyworth</p><p>She had to meet Damian Wayne</p><p>- "I think so... I think it was fate that put me here and now..." - She said almost as a whisper, and Damian leaned closer to her, interested in what she was going to say - "With Alfred..."</p><p>- "Of course... With Pennyworth..."</p><p>- "We should go to sleep..." - Raven grunted getting up from the bench, only to unbalance in her high heels and sprained her ankle and be held by Damian.</p><p>Raven swallowed, looking at his face so close. Was she reasoning? She couldn't say, she couldn't think straight when he had two hands firmly on her waist and an smell of cinnamon, soap and pepper made her dizzy. Not to mention the amount of alcohol she had in her blood, her hands holding tightly to his firm abs and those greenish eyes that made her dizzy from the start.</p><p>- "Are you alright?" - He almost whispered</p><p>She wasn't...</p><p>- "I... I... I'm fine..." - Raven grunted straightening while still holding on to Damian's shoulder. - "I just unbalanced and... I think my resistance to alcohol is very small and 3 glasses of wine is enough to make me stagger..."</p><p>- "Okay..." - He took a deep breath and nodded</p><p>- "I think this is the proof that we should sleep and..." - She took a deep breath - "Ouch..."</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "I think I sprained my ankle..."</p><p>- "Why do you use this thing?" - He grunted laughing pointing at her shoe - "This is torture..."</p><p>- "Well..." - Raven grunted laughing while making a face - "In this I will have to agree with you..." - She took a deep breath - "But it's okay, I'll take off my heels and I'll be able to walk..." - Raven took off her shoe, still reeling and tried to put her foot on the floor and walk away from Damian as quickly as possible. She needed to go to her room before her heart left her chest or she did anything. Why did she want to kiss him so badly?</p><p>Why did she feel so confused about him?</p><p>She stepped, her foot hurt in the cold of the bar floor and moaned, it was still hurting to step and she would have to hobble awkwardly to the bedroom. Luckily it just seemed like a twist and she wouldn't have to worry about anything else but having to put some ice on before she went to sleep.</p><p>Damian watched her hobble no more than 5 steps before he groaned looking irritated and walked over to her, picking her up in the bride style in the middle of the bar and all eyes on them.</p><p>- "Damian, put me down..."</p><p>- "No..." - He grunted seriously - "You have an injured foot, you can't force him or it can get worse"</p><p>- "I can perfectly hobble up to my room, it's not like I broke..."</p><p>- "Can you just let me take care of you?" - He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Raven swallowed. She was silent, not knowing what to actually answer for him, she still felt strangely hot with her face so close to his. It was almost painful. She just grunted and looked away, preferring to act like a spoiled child rather than trying to counter anything Damian was trying to say with that sentence. - "Great... As I expected...</p><p>He smiled and walked around the bar, taking her to her room while he said nothing. Raven tried to ignore his warm hands holding her thighs or how the scent of cinnamon got more and more intense the closer she was to him... She didn't know she could feel so many things in such a short time and she knew she could feel those things it was too wrong.</p><p>She was a compromised person, having a marriage in a few weeks and here she was feeling everything in the arms of another man.</p><p>Damian entered Raven's room with his foot shutting the door and didn't release her until she was safe in her bed. She took a deep breath, finally thanking him that they had arrived and that he was now at a considerably acceptable distance from her.</p><p>- "You need to put ice..." - He took a deep breath</p><p>- "Uhm..." - Raven murmured, unable to find her voice or say anything coherent. She was afraid to say something stupid while she was in that state.</p><p>He walked around the room as if he owned the place, called the front desk and ordered a bucket of ice and a first aid kit ignoring Raven's protest that she could fully handle it. When they brought what he had asked for, Damian sat on the bed and put his foot on his lap. Raven felt heat rise up her neck as his warm hands tightened on her foot, in contrast to the cold of the ice.</p><p>- "You know I can do that, right?</p><p>- "I know..."</p><p>- "So...?"</p><p>- "You are drunk, I can do this..." - He grunted disinterested, his face expressionless</p><p>- "I'm not drunk... A little dizzy, yes... But not drunk..."</p><p>- "Whatever..." - He murmured resting her foot on his lap and Raven felt her cheeks burn - "I just want to take care of you... Can I?" - He raised his eyebrow - "Let me take care of you..." - Raven swallowed, sinking into the bed as she tried to ignore the thunder that was in her heart at that moment.</p><p>She should ignore it all.</p><p>She shouldn't feel anything just because a very handsome and attractive guy was doing something as simple as putting ice on her feet. She had a fiance, she had to keep that in mind...</p><p>She had to maintain that however careless and inattentive Tommy was, he was still her fiancé.</p><p>Damian finished taking care of her foot and after wrapping it tightly with a bandage, he decided to get up and let Raven rest, giving Raven a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving and leaving her more baffled than she was before. When Damian closed the door, Raven released the breath she had been holding for the entire awkward moment between them and it came out almost as a strangled moan.</p><p>She needed to rest and get all that alcohol out of her body, she definitely should stop drinking alcohol while she was with Damian by the side...</p><p>She needed to remember that next time.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and threw herself between the pillows, looking at the ceiling as she spent the pleasant evening with Damian and how he seemed lighter when he counted when he was with her. He even smiled more than he smiled in 2 days when they were in Glasgow...</p><p>Which already meant something.</p><p>She grunted, putting the pillow on her face, stifling a stupid smile that threatened to take over her face as she remembered the pleasant morning they had and how he said she was a great writer and how he read everything she had written with a attention she never had before and how he took care of her there.</p><p>God, what was happening to her?</p><p>______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>
  <i>A complete failure...</i>
</p><p>It was what Raven would say after all those attempts. Apparently Alfred was courted by every Esme Winikus in the UK and none of them were the ones they were looking for. They had to flee from one where the husband was begging them to take her away. And that wasn't the strangest thing that happened to them that day.</p><p>They drove to Stafford, where they were going to look for the last Esme of the day and then go to a hotel if things continued to go wrong and rest to continue the next day. Damian parked the car in a narrow street and they followed the path to the address on foot, until they reached the house with reddish doors, with old stone walls, which seemed to be abandoned.</p><p>they knocked on the door and nobody came to answer it. Apparently, that house had been empty for years. They breathed in frustration until a woman on a motorcycle appeared, not far from where they were.</p><p>- "Are you looking for Esme?"</p><p>- "Yes..." - Damian murmured - "Do you know where we can find her?"</p><p>- "Didn't you know?" - The woman asked with a strange grimace - "She died last year..." - Raven, Damian and Alfred opened their mouths and closed in the same instant and nobody knew how to react properly. That was the thing Raven had feared the most since they started that adventure and now, they wouldn't even know if this was really the Esme they were looking for.</p><p>Alfred staggered a little before being supported by Damian who quickly grabbed him by the arms so he wouldn't fall. The silence was heavy between them and so thick that Raven felt as if she could cut it with a knife.</p><p>- "Kind lady, do you know where Esme was buried?" - Alfred grunted after a while, trying to compose himself</p><p>- "Pennyworth-"</p><p>- "Master Damian, I know what I'm doing... I want to see..."</p><p>- "Erm... She was buried on Eccleshall Road... Not far from here..." - She grunted putting the helmet back - "If you want I can guide you there."</p><p>- "Pennyworth, no... Let's go..."</p><p>- "Master Damian..." - Alfred murmured trying to keep his voice as low as possible - "I appreciate your concern but, I will go with you to visit Esme's grave with or without your help..." - Damian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, the wrinkle he had between his eyebrows when he was irritated showing up again after so many days when Raven hadn't seen it there.</p><p>Raven didn't really know what to do, that was her fear since they started it all and Damian had told her that he was also afraid of this happening because Alfred had already suffered too many losses throughout his life and each time they didn't meet some Esme who was alive, his heart was hopeful.</p><p>Now they couldn't even tell if this was the Esme they were looking for.</p><p>- "Okay, then don't say I didn't try to avoid this shit..." - Damian grunted, turning his back on Alfred and Raven, clearly irritated, as they walked to the car.</p><p>Damian started the car in deadly silence and Raven didn't know what to say to make everything better, but nothing seemed to be good enough in his head. They followed the woman on the motorcycle to a remote and distant part of where they were, to the wide field of grass and small sculptures of stonework and a shrub in the background. She felt her heart drop and break when the woman pointed at the entrance to the cemetery, making the car even quieter.</p><p>Raven could see how Damian pressed his hands tightly against the steering wheel and his eyes went dark and oh god, her heart broke into 20,000 pieces when she looked at Alfred.</p><p>She wanted to say something to comfort him, but nothing came to her mind and she didn't know what to say to improve it.</p><p>They got out of the car and before Raven and Damian could say anything, Alfred walked among the stonework, looking for one that had written what he was looking for there until he stopped in front of a stonework near the small chapel.</p><p>Alfred stood for a few seconds in silence in front of the writing "In memory of Esme Winikus, beloved wife and mother." Damian was clearly irritated, shaking his head in denial as he looked at Alfred silently at the flowers deposited on the grass, Raven looked at him trying to say something that would calm him down, she didn't want him to blame her for this, although she felt guilty.</p><p>- "That was what I feared most..." - His voice was low and almost dangerous</p><p>- "Damian, we don't even know if it's her..."</p><p>- "I hope it's not really... But anyway, we finished this here..."</p><p>- "No ... Not here, Damian...."</p><p>-" When do we finish, Raven?" - He spat, irritated - "On the next mountain? Searching all over the country? Walking from cemetery to cemetery praying that it's not who we're looking for?"</p><p>- "Damian..."</p><p>- "No, no! It ended here..."</p><p>- "There are other Esmes near here..."</p><p>- "It's not the end you wanted, is it?" - Raven took a deep breath and lowered her head. Of course, she didn't want it to end like this, but it wasn't because of the story.... Fuck the story... She didn't want it to end like this because she didn't want Alfred to suffer - "This is not a story with a happy ending."</p><p>- "Stop talking!"</p><p>- "No! We are in this because of you and you want to prolong things... This is not a beautiful tale for you to get a promotion, it is my grandfather's life!"</p><p>- "Damian is not for history!" - She tried to hold his arm, but he pulled away</p><p>- "He already lost this woman once, how many more times do you want her to lose him?" - He grunted angrily and Raven felt her eyes sting as if she were about to cry. She didn't want to cry, not in front of him, but because of him.</p><p>But because she felt guilty about that</p><p>- "Damian..." - Raven said in a whisper, mentally asking him to stop talking</p><p>- "I don't expect you to understand anyway, because you don't know what it's really like to lose someone..." - He said looking directly into her eyes. Raven felt her face get wet and her eyes blurry, as she didn't know how to counter what he said, the wounds she always hid opening more painful than before.</p><p>She knew what it was like to lose someone, she knew the pain of being abandoned and that was why she didn't like to be alone and part of her knew that she accepted all of Tommy's inattention because she didn't want to be alone again.</p><p>Damian spitting in her face that she didn't know what it was like to lose someone hurt more than if he had slapped her in the face and that was a lot. Raven nodded, wiping her face with the back of her hands as she walked back to the car, her mind racing. He was right, they needed to stop and she should have thought about the consequences before it started, but how he said it was how it hurt, especially after the last few hours and how close they had been since the night they had wine in the loft in Glasgow.</p><p>Alfred was silent, watching Raven distance herself from them as Damian paced nervously from side to side, hands fisted and opened, trying to keep things under control. Alfred knew that Damian was hurt too and knew that the boy regretted saying that the moment the words left his lips.</p><p>Damian was interested in Raven, but he was fumbling with feelings and Alfred knew it as well as he knew the sky was blue.</p><p>- "What?" - Damian grunted, looking at Alfred watching him. Alfred watched Raven disappear behind the cemetery entrance.</p><p>- "You're wrong..." - Alfred said in his usual calm tone - "Raven's mother abandoned her when she was just a little girl and she never met her father..." - Alfred said crossing his arms behind his back. Damian took a deep breath, looking confused while he looked over to where Raven had disappeared.</p><p>- "It's different, Pennyworth..." - He grunted, his voice breaking just a little. Alfred walked over to the boy and rubbed his face in a sign of affection. Damian never let anyone caress his cheek, but he was too upset to protest. It was like he needed it - "It's... It's different..."</p><p>- "You're right..." - Alfred said with a welcoming smile, looking into Damian's green eyes - "You have your father who loves you and has supported you for all these years, brothers and sisters who have welcomed you in all times of sadness... But, Raven's mother chose to leave her... You always knew that your family and your mother loved you.... Raven became a woman without knowing what that was... - Damian took a deep breath, and closed his eyes letting himselve rest on Alfred's shoulder.</p><p>Alfred always knew how to make him see the other side of things, even though he was too nervous to admit guilt. Raven didn't leave the room after they returned. Damian knew he had to apologize to her but he didn't want to do that by going to her room for this, he still had a bit of pride and he still thought it was all her fault, so he just locked himself in the room too. Raven didn't know why it hurt so much to replay in her head what Damian had said to her but, she wanted it to stop hurting, she didn't want to be crying because she was too proud for that so she just took a shower and lay in her bed all day. In the morning she would apologize to Alfred and finish it all at once...</p><p>There was no longer any point in continuing.</p><p>She was getting ready for bed (or just trying) when someone knocked on the door. She took a deep breath, thinking it might be Damian, but she ignored it. He spent the entire trip back without looking at her and probably now blamed her for all the woes in the world.</p><p>- "Come in..." Raven said, hoping it was some room service, but Alfred, who appeared under the doorframe, in his dressing gown. He smiled a fatherly smile - "Ahnn... Hi..." - Alfred smiled and walked across the room to her, sitting across from her on the bed.</p><p>- "Ah Miss Raven..."</p><p>- "Just Raven..." - Raven interrupted him - "You don't need to call me Miss..."</p><p>- "As you wish..." - He smiled, his eyes kind on Raven as if she were a frightened child. Raven wanted to say so many things to Alfred, wanted to hug him and apologize for millions and apologize for all that mess. She never wanted to hurt him and she would never be able to forgive herself for making him go through such suffering. But nothing came out and she felt like she was about to burst into tears again - "I just wanted to see if you are all right..."</p><p>- "I'm fine..." - Raven whispered, her voice too broken to come out more than a whisper. Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes - "Alfred, I'm sorry if I caused..."</p><p>- "No..." - Alfred smiled - "Don't be sorry... Every moment was a unique and very special adventure..." - Raven tried to prevent her tears-filled eyes from overflowing but all she managed to do was make them drain with force. She lowered her head letting the tears run down her cheek - "Oh dear..." - He approached her and lifted Raven's face caressing her cheek as he wiped the tears that were streaming down her face.</p><p>Raven liked that, she liked to feel paternal affection from someone and she had never experienced that before. He got up and took a brush from the dressing table and went back to where Raven was sitting, stroking Raven's cheek with a smile</p><p>- "Can i...?" - Raven nodded, hugging her legs while letting her head fall back a little. Alfred ran his hand carefully through her hair and as if in a gesture of love, he began to comb the dark strands of Raven's hair with all the care a father should have with his daughter, and an action that Raven never felt.</p><p>Raven closed her eyes, letting Alfred comb her hair while a single tear ran down her face, letting the tears wash away what had been hurting her since she was just 12 years old. Alfred took care of Raven as if he were his daughter that night, putting her to sleep with a goodnight kiss on the forehead.</p><p>Raven knew she didn't deserve it, felt guilty about it and breaking Alfred's heart, but she was grateful to have had the opportunity to meet him.</p><p>The next day, when Raven woke up, her eyes were still swollen from crying, but she decided she wasn't going to be stuck in that room another day. They would go home and she would think of something else to write while she was in the comfort of her own room when she got to Metropolis, the initial plan had always been to write about Juliet's secretaries, she could go back to that initial plan... There was some note saved somewhere.</p><p>When Raven arrived at the hotel's restaurant for breakfast, Alfred and Damian were already talking. Damian saw Raven approaching and stood up quickly, going to pull the chair out so that she would sit in an attitude of chivalry. He looked nervous, anxious and calmer than he had been the previous afternoon and Raven couldn't tell whether he liked it.</p><p>- "Master Damian... Apologize..." - Alfred grunted - "Looking in her eyes, apologize..." - Damian nodded quickly and swallowed hard</p><p>- "Erm... Raven..." - He grunted when she sat in the chair, her back to him - "I wanted-"</p><p>- "Master Damian... Looking in her eyes..."</p><p>- "I'm not 12, Pennyworth"</p><p>- "Then prove you're not 12..." - Alfred said calmly, sipping his own tea. Damian took a deep breath and looked quickly at every corner except Raven. Then he looked at her, locking his green eyes on her blue ones. Raven looked quickly at Alfred and then at Damian again</p><p>- "My sincere apologies, Raven..." - He took a deep breath and settled himself in his chair, nervous - "It won't happen again..." - Raven nodded slowly and took a deep breath, giving a thin smile. It wasn't exactly the kind of apology she expected to receive, but she knew he was trying.</p><p>There was no reason why she would try to make things difficult for him</p><p>- "Excellent..." - Alfred whispered, giving a satisfied smile - "Since today is our last day here and tomorrow we will go to London to return to our lives... I want to propose a toast with our cups of tea... I took the liberty of asking for a camomile for you..." - He handed her the cup and Damian took a deep breath, taking his still looking at her - "I want to thank you for the wonderful thing you did for me this week, a complete stranger that you helped without a second thought ... I will never forget these days and I will never forget you ...</p><p>-"Neither do I..." - Damian whispered with the usual smile from before returning to his face and Raven felt a heat rise in her stomach as the rain of thunder returned to her heart. <i>How did he achieve this?</i></p><p>- "It was incredible days for me..." - Raven grunted suddenly too interested in the handle of the cup - "I can't thank you enough for letting me accompany you, Alfred..."</p><p>- "Oh you did more than just accompany me, Raven..." - He smiled and raised the cup, toasting with Raven and Damian - "To all our loved ones, alive or dead, wherever they are..."</p><p>- "Cheers..."</p><p>- "Cheers..." - Raven smiled, looking at Alfred and Damian. It had been an incredible journey and she couldn't be more grateful for having allowed her to participate.</p><p>The 3 decided that that day would be without Esme, Alfred wanted to go for a walk in the city with Raven and Damian and Raven learned a lot about spices and spices and about the place with Alfred. He grew up in Raven's heart as a father she could never know and she wanted to keep in touch with him when everyone returned to Metropolis and Gotham... They lived in neighboring cities, it's not like they could never meet again.</p><p>After a hearty dinner and a lot of conversation, Alfred went to bed and Raven and Damian sat at the table. She decided not to drink wine this time, she didn't want any other accident like the day she twisted her foot. She was still limping a bit even though Damian was careful to put ice on her ankle.</p><p>- "Look..." - Damian grunted running his fingertips unpretentiously on the edge of the cup of coffee he was drinking as if thinking of the best way to say something - "Erm.... Are you going to lie down?"</p><p>- "Well... I don't have much to do and I still need to finish folding my clothes..." - She mumbled taking a deep breath. Damian licked his bottom lip and looked at her</p><p>- "Hm... Do you want to go for a walk in the hotel garden?" - He raised an eyebrow at her. Raven looked at him and then looked at the window, seeing the night lit up by bright stars in the sky.</p><p>- "Uhhnn... Okay...."</p><p>- "Great..." - He smiled as he stood up to pull out her chair. He stretched out his arm for her to hold and then they walked outside, into the hotel's extensive green garden, like the day they walked in the garden in Warrington, talking about the adventure they had lived in the past few days until they decided to lie on the grass below of a leafy tree that looked out over the rooms, looking at the constellation above them. Raven loved looking at the stars and she never did that at Metropolis and Tommy didn't seem too excited to take a trail to observe the sky when she proposed it one day.</p><p>They were silent for a moment, looking at the stars blinking over them. Raven could feel that Damian was anxious, she just didn't know why.</p><p>- "I... I didn't know how to express myself earlier today..." - He took a deep breath, wiggling his fingers without stopping - "I ... I'm not good with words..."</p><p>- "Okay..."</p><p>- "I'm sorry... Really... I didn't know about your parents..."</p><p>- "I said it's okay, Damian..." - She smiled looking at him and then, looking at the stars again - "I used to lie under the stars when I was a kid in the summer... San Francisco usually gets very hot and my aunt has an extensive lawn with a deck..." - Raven took a deep breath, suddenly a stretch of <i>Hamlet</i> getting stuck in her mind like glue - <i>"Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the Sun doth move..."</i></p><p>- <i>"Doubt truth to be a liar..."</i> - Damian added, looking at her in a way that made the entire interior of her burn. - <i>"But never doubt I love"</i> - He smiled and crooked and looked back at the stars and Raven felt strangely hot, as if she was too close to the sun and it was difficult to breathe. And for some reason, she wanted to get closer and closer to that sun.</p><p>Suddenly, she no longer wanted to stop the thunder in her chest.</p><p>They were silent for a few more seconds and Raven couldn't help a silly smile from taking over his face. Damian took a deep breath after 5 minutes of complete silence and looked at her again</p><p>- "Do you really believe she's around?" - Raven looked at him without understanding - "Esme..."</p><p>- "Yes..." - Raven smiled - "Somewhere..."</p><p>- "Am I wrong to have insisted that he give up?"</p><p>- "No..." - Raven grunted looking again at the sky - "You were right... You can't go on with this forever... You would have to stop at some point..." - Raven smirked and Damian took a deep breath, the eyes locked somewhere on her face. Raven felt his hand brush against hers almost like a ghostly touch and looked at him out of the corner of her eye, he seemed to be nervous, swallowing. Raven felt this nervousness, as if she were a little girl again in her first kiss and god, she liked to feel it.</p><p>Oh god she wanted him to kiss her... <i>Wait, where did that come from?</i></p><p>- "Why do I feel like a little school boy on Sunday again?" - He asked after a while watching her. Raven swallowed with difficulty and looked at him, his eyes brought a calm that she never felt before and burned her as if they were fire - "It's almost tomorrow and I don't want to leave..."</p><p>- "Me neither..." - Raven whispered with a smile - "And I always liked the school..."</p><p>- "I was wrong about what you said yesterday... "- Damian whispered, his forehead against Raven's as she felt like all the oxygen in the world was gone. What the hell was he talking about?</p><p>- "About what?" - She grunted, swallowing hard</p><p> - "I am the Romeo..." - She smiled looking at him and he smiled back and next thing Raven felt his lips capture hers slowly, an almost painful slowness.</p><p>Raven felt as if her chest could explode, all of her body waking up after years of sleeping and closed her eyes, returning kissed him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Damian slowly slid a hand over her jaw, pulling the strands of hair out of the way and then resting his hand on her waist, squeezing gently. Raven let her hands rest on his jaw, sliding down the back of his neck and running through his hair. She was in a cloud of cinnamon and soap and she didn't want to go back. She didn't know that she needed to feel that whole volcano of sensations until she did and she didn't know how to deal with it.</p><p>She never felt that way with Tommy... To tell the truth, she had been feeling less and less for him.</p><p>
  <i>Tommy...</i>
</p><p>Raven stopped kissing Damian right away, what the hell was going on in her head? Kiss another guy? Kissing Damian? She felt like a horrible person for kissing another guy, but... She was feeling so many things and she had so many feelings found now. She said nothing more, just got up and left, almost running to the room, leaving Damian without any explanation, watching her walk away. Raven closed the bedroom door with her own body, her hand soothing her exploding chest, a volcano of emotions overflowing inside her.</p><p>
  <i>Oh god... Was she really attracted to Damian Wayne?</i>
</p><p>In a window not far from where they were standing, Alfred watched them both from the moment they were lying there until the moment when Raven got up and ran away, leaving Damian with a smile on his face and hands in his eyes.</p><p>Alfred smiled, his grandson at heart deserved some love and Raven was the perfect woman to teach that way. He just hoped the two of them wouldn't notice it too late.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8: Esme Winikus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raven was barely able to sleep that night. She thought about what had happened in the garden and everything she had felt and she just wanted to understand why she wanted to do that, but the more she thought about it, the more unexplained she became. It didn't help that she felt everything again when she replayed the images in her head. She couldn't deny that she felt something when Damian kissed her, many things in fact. And she couldn't deny that she wanted to kiss him, not only when he finally made the move to finally kiss her, but since he took her to her room in Glasgow and they had that moment of deathly silence between them. She wanted to kiss him again the moment she walked away from him the night before.</p><p>She was so fucked up, she didn't want to think about anything else, not when she was confused to enjoy kissing Damian, guilty of feeling that she was cheating on her fiancé, for fear that it would be a complete mess in her head now and willingly. to make mistakes again... She didn't even know that she could feel so much at the same time. When the sun rose on the horizon, painting the sky golden and dissipating the fog of the previous night, Raven got up from the bed and decided to organize the things that were still out of her suitcase, she needed to do something with her hands to feel in control of her life again or she would go crazy. She would return to Metropolis that afternoon and everything would be as it was before, she couldn't keep thinking about a moment she lived that should have been a mistake. Damian probably wouldn't remember that anymore when he got on the plane, there was no reason why she would relive that again and again. Raven remembered Donatella's assumptions when she read Alfred's letter and a shiver ran down her spine. She didn't want to spend her life with Tommy thinking about Damian and what could have been a summer romance... She would have to put it under a rock, Tommy would never know about that kiss and she would forget about it completely.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath when she finished packing and looked at her watch, they must have been checking out at the hotel, from the window she could see Damian putting Alfred's bags into the car. Raven had to contain a low sound that came from the back of her throat, how was she supposed to act with Damian now? She couldn't say... She considered calling a taxi to avoid having to travel to London for more than 3 hours in a car with him, but abandoned the idea at the same time when thinking about saying goodbye to Alfred without any plausible explanation... She wasn't a fear, she was an adult woman and responsible for her own actions. Raven took a deep breath and picked up her bags, being met with a smile by Damian at the hotel door, running to get her bags. Raven bit her bottom lip hard, remembering how to breathe.</p><p>- "Good Morning..."</p><p>- "Good morning..." - He smiled at her, reaching out to take her bags and carry them to the car - "Ah... Thank you..."</p><p>- "How did you sleep?"</p><p>- "Ah... I slept well" - <i>Lie</i> - "And you?"</p><p>- "Oh yes... I slept very well... Thank you..." - He smiled uneasily and Raven felt like she was being strangled. Why did she have to do this? She should definitely stop acting on impulse. The idea of the taxi didn't look so bad now.</p><p>- "Good morning..." - Alfred mumbled leaving the hotel with a strange smile for the two young people standing facing each other in front of the open trunk</p><p>- "Good morning, Alfred..." - Raven smiled, returning to reality and finally managing to breathe. She staggered and walked over to Alfred, receiving him in a tight hug.- "What a beautiful day, don't you think, Raven?" - Alfred said with a smile, looking at the blue sky above them. Raven smiled and just nodded, walking over to get in the car when Damian opened the door for her to get in - "Oh, Raven... If you don't mind... Could you go in the front seat? I need to stretch my legs and it will be a long trip to London..." - Raven swallowed hard looking at Alfred and then at Damian. How could she say no?</p><p>God now she regretted bitterly for not calling a taxi.</p><p>- "Hm... Of course, Alfred... No problem..." - She murmured getting up as she passed Damian without being able to look at him. He looked like a mix of expressionless and anxious and Raven couldn't tell which one weighed more on him.Alfred smiled and got into the car with a winning smile on his face, making Damian slam the door a little harder than necessary. Raven came around the car and entered the front door, suddenly too interested in the stripped handle of her old bag as Damian sat in the driver's seat.The trip was a deadly, almost painful silence. Raven couldn't look away without feeling a whirlwind of feelings inside her and she could tell that Damian felt the same way. All the while, he kept his eyes focused on the road, now and then running a hand through his hair. For an hour's drive, Raven concentrated on the landscapes from the car window without really paying attention to them, her head was elsewhere, other scents.</p><p>It was the most uncomfortable and awkward 3 hours and 30 minutes of Raven's life and she didn't know how to escape it, she just wanted to stop feeling things and she really tried to avoid thinking about the times their eyes met when Alfred made a comment.</p><p>They arrived in London almost at lunchtime and Raven felt that her stomach was about to snore when Alfred suggested they go get something to eat before they took a flight. Damian said they could go to the Wayne apartment, but Alfred insisted that they go to a restaurant that he knew Damian just snorted and agreed to.It was a Chinese restaurant in the middle of London's Chinatown fuzz. Raven silently followed the two men who seemed to know the place better than anyone there until they sat at a table where they saw the outside movement. Alfred ordered the food in perfect Chinese that made Raven's jaw drop.</p><p>After Raven became quite interested in the bread crumbs instead of looking at Damian sitting in front of him, Alfred decided to break the silence that had been lingering between them since they left Stafford</p><p>- "The stars were so beautiful from my window yesterday..." - He muttered unpretentiously - "Did you see?"</p><p>- "Erm..." - Raven grunted raising his eyes to Damian who just grimaced - "I did see..." - She took a deep breath - "It was a... Hot and very starry night..."</p><p>- "Yes..." - He smiled looking at the menu - "We should make a last toast before we go..."</p><p>- "Pennyworth we already toasted in Stafford... And you are drinking too much on this trip..."</p><p>- "Master Damian I appreciate your concern but, I am a 75 year old adult man... I think I may as well know when and where I should stop taking something..." - He smiled at Damian - "Besides, it was just a couple of glasses of wine at that dinner in Glasgow..." - He raised an eyebrow.</p><p>- "Ahnn... Of course... I forgot that you just left us waiting for you at the hotel bar in Warrington..."</p><p>- "You know I ended up getting a little tired..." - He smiled without looking up from the menu - "But I bet Raven was an excellent company..."</p><p>- "That is beside the point..." - Damian hurried to say and Raven saw a slight pink tone rise on Damian's neck - "Yes she was a good company... But don't say it as if you hadn't called us to it...."</p><p>- "Does it really matter?" - Alfred smiled looking quickly at Damian before looking at the window - "What matters is that-" He stopped saying anything he was planning to say and Raven thought they were feeling sick. Suddenly, Alfred was as white as paper, looking at the restaurant window as if he had seen a ghost from his past.Maybe it really was.The restaurant door opened with a small bell ringing and a girl with short brown hair and white skin as the moon entered the restaurant. She placed the order smiling and sat down to wait, looking quickly at the phone in the meantime.</p><p>- "Alfred?"</p><p>- "Pennyworth? Are you alright?" - Damian asked worried - "Pennyworth!" - Alfred said nothing, he just stood up and walked slowly to where the woman had sat. Damian and Raven walked behind him.</p><p>- "Alfred, what's wrong?" - Alfred turned slowly to Raven and Damian, his eyes wide and too scared to get a correct explanation- "This is Esme..."</p><p>- "Who?" - Damian asked looking at the sitting girl and Alfred again - "The girl?" - Alfred nodded as tears streamed down his face. Damian took a visibly confused breath and Raven tried to connect the pieces. There was no way that woman could be Esme Winikus... She was just over 20 years old possibly and Alfred met Esme in 1957... There was no logic in that being the woman they were looking for - "Come on Pennyworth, let's sit... I will ask for water for you..." - But Alfred did not move, it was as if he was nailed to that place despite Damian's insistence. Raven took a deep breath and walked over to the woman, trying to find some connection between her and the woman they were looking for in order to explain that situation.</p><p>- "Excuse me..." - She said making the woman look up from the phone screen - "Do you happen to know Esme Winikus?"</p><p>- "I am Esme Winikus..." - The girl answered without understanding, and Raven found herself more confused than before. Damian left Alfred's side and ran to Raven, swallowing hard when he approached the two women.</p><p>- "Raven, I think..." - Damian said with his breath caught in his throat, looking at Raven - "Do you know Esme Winikus?"</p><p>- "I already asked..." - Raven said following Damian's line of reasoning. If Alfred had seen Esme in that woman and she was called Esme Winikus, there was a huge possibility that they had accidentally found the person they had been looking for all these days... Or some of her family.</p><p>- "I'm Esme Winikus..."</p><p>- "Is that you!?" - Damian almost couldn't contain his excitement, which was very strange for someone who didn't want any of this at first - "Raven... She can be a granddaughter!" - Raven nodded, just as another woman entered the restaurant and went to them. She wore the same short haircut, but her hair was darker and her eyes were as blue as the sky.</p><p>- "Good morning... Esme, did something happen?" - She caressed the girl's shoulder, before looking at Raven and Damian - "Can I help you two?"</p><p>- "Yes!" - Raven and Damian said in unison- "We're looking for Esme Winikus..."</p><p>- "And I told them that I'm Esme Winikus..." - The girl replied nonchalantly, returning to pay attention on the cell phone.</p><p>- "Is your mother by any chance also called Esme Winikus?"</p><p>- "Yes..."</p><p>- "My name was in honor of my grandmother..." - The girl replied again</p><p>- "Okay, but how can we help?"</p><p>- "I'm sorry we're being terribly rude..." - Raven grunted holding Damian's arm before he flew over the girl and forced her to give information about her grandmother - "I'm Raven Roth... This is Damian Wayne..."</p><p>- "Esme" - she pointed at the girl - "Penny" - She pointed at herself.</p><p>- "She's called Penny! PENNY!" - Damian gave a strange laugh</p><p>- "Sorry, Miss Penny..." - Raven grunted trying to ignore Damian's laughter - "We are on a long journey behind your mother, it looks like our friend Alfred Pennyworth..." - Raven pointed to Alfred standing in the distance - "knows her..."</p><p>- "Oh really? Mom doesn't talk much about her friends..." - Penny murmured looking at Alfred and then at Damian - "She's in the store next door..."</p><p>- "Master Damian, Miss Raven, let's go..." - Alfred muttered from afar. Damian made a face, not understanding what Alfred was doing. Had they made a long journey after those people for him to just give up when they found it?</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "Come on..." - Damian grimaced and walked back to Alfred wanting a plausible explanation for the situation.- "Pennyworth, Esme is alive! She's in the store next door..." - Alfred looked at the two women and Raven and took a deep breath</p><p>- "Well, then let's go before she comes..."</p><p>- "We got here, Pennyworth..." - Damian said almost nervous - "Come on!"</p><p>- "No... I'm being ridiculous, Master Damian... I'm being completely ridiculous... She met me when I was a 20 year old boy... That boy no longer exists..." - He said holding his arm Damian's tightly.The restaurant doorbell rang again, and everything around it seemed to go into complete dead silence, with several looks turned on whoever entered it. There, a woman with short gray hair came in and gave a hand to a very small boy, she wore a long dark blue dress and a necklace of white pearls. She smiled talking to the boy about some very interesting toy.- "Alfred?" - Raven grunted</p><p>- "Oh my God..." - The woman stopped where she was and looked at the three people standing, looking at her, before the girl ran up to her and whispered something they didn't understand. Raven held Alfred's hand tightly, hoping she would be able to convey the support she wanted to give him. After days of traveling around the country looking for his soul mate, she was there, under his noses. She handed the boy over to the girl and walked slowly over to where Raven, Damian and Alfred were. Alfred also walked towards her and Raven was unable to contain his emotion.</p><p>They met after all those years and pains because of a letter Raven had written to Alfred. Her heart was filled with a feeling that she could not explain and even though they were not together at the end of their life journey, they could see each other one last time and close this cycle in peace.What Raven doubted, she felt that their love was still intact after almost 60 years.</p><p>- "Alfred...?" - Esme said, looking into Alfred's eyes with such affection that Raven wanted to live in that scene. Alfred smiled and nodded, barely holding back tears.</p><p>- "Yes..."</p><p>- "Oh my God!" - Esme whispered, seeming not to believe. Her blue eyes seemed to overflow with joy and doubt. It was so beautiful to see two souls meeting after so long that Raven couldn't prevent happy crystalline drops from rolling down her cheek. Damian looked at her for a long second, before sliding the tip of his thumb to collect that tear that had run down Raven's face. Raven cringed at Damian's touch, but let him wipe the tear off her cheek.</p><p>- "Esme..."</p><p>- "After so many years..." - She whispered</p><p>- "Yes... 50 years..." - Alfred smiled - "I counted each of them..." - Esme smiled and slowly reached out, touching Alfred's cheek as if she needed to touch him to make sure he was real . Alfred let his face rest in her hands, as if he was too tired after a long battle </p><p>- "My beloved..." - Alfred smiled bending over to kiss Esme on the forehead, but she wrapped her arms around him hugging you as tightly as if you never wanted to let go.</p><p>- "We did it..." - Damian muttered under his breath to Raven</p><p>- "Yes... We did it..." - Raven replied smiling, letting her head touch Damian's arm, for that second, forgetting any strangeness that was growing between them. Damian looked over Raven's head against his arm and smiled, putting his arm around her shoulder.</p><p>Alfred and Esme held each other for a considerable time, as if trying to end 50 years of longing in a hug, until Esme suggested that they go to lunch in the apartment where they lived. It was the same apartment she and Alfred had bought when they were still young and she had lived there since the day she decided to return to London to look for Alfred. Believing that the worst had happened to him, Esme created a life different from the one she had planned. She got married, had 3 daughters, and was widowed for just over 3 years, but she never forgot Alfred. Raven listened to all the stories with a heart full of so many good feelings that she could just spend the rest of her life there with them. It was a fairy tale that she didn't know she needed to hear and now, she had helped to create.</p><p>She wanted to stay there, to live forever in that fairy tale, but of course, it wasn't like that. Raven needed to go back to Metropolis, to her old life and she needed to talk to Damian about what had happened that night. She had to put an end to this before she came back because she didn't want to have anything hanging around her head while she was signing her wedding papers, and she knew he needed answers too. Raven motioned for him to go with her to a place farther away from where the whole Winikus and Alfred family were gathered, talking about their lives and they went on to a living room with flowered armchairs and a coffee table with flower pots on top.</p><p>- "What bad luck..." - He grunted with the usual ironic smile - "When we had given up, she shows up buying sushi! No one will believe..." - Raven smiled and Damian approached her, sitting on the edge of the coffee table and facing her - "So... I want you to promise me..."</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "You're going to finish the story..." - He raised his eyebrow and Raven looked at him for a few seconds, before smiling, not knowing what to say. He took a deep breath and lowered his head, looking at his hands before looking at Raven again, his eyes saying a thousand things and saying nothing at the same time. Raven was speechless, it seemed like everything was clinging to her throat and she didn't know what to say. She felt like shit for kissing someone but now, she felt like it wasn't wrong because he made her feel things that she had never felt before and she just wanted Damian to have appeared in her life before Tommy.</p><p>Or that he would ask her to run away with him, anywhere in the world.</p><p>- "Damian I..."</p><p>- "I think that's it..." - Damian grunted - "I think it's over... It's a shame..." - He took a deep breath, looking back at his hands. Raven nodded slowly without having the courage to look at him again. She heard her heart go to 1000 in her ear and it was strange... She felt guilty for not feeling it for Tommy. She should feel that way about Tommy...</p><p>- "I..." - Her voice sounded hoarse - "I think too..." - Raven took a deep breath and looked up, looking at Esme and Alfred smiling in the other room, holding hands on the table.</p><p>- "Raven, I..." - He took a deep breath and swallowed hard, courage to look at Raven again - "I should never have kissed you... I crossed the line..." - Raven licked her lips, feeling like a tractor was passing over her. - "You're engaged..." - His voice sounded broken and Raven looked down again. She didn't want to look at him again because she wanted to silence everything she felt. Damian was something she didn't expect to happen and now she felt like she had been waiting for him for all those years. That wasn't right, he woke up feelings in her that she didn't even know she could feel, feelings that her fiancé never made her feel. Raven nodded, trying to control her eyes from overflowing, there was no reason for her to cry in front of him just because he told the truth. She should never have felt anything for him and she should never have kissed him that starry night. She nodded yes just because she felt that if she tried to say it, she would say no.</p><p>And that was just an attraction, a summer romance...</p><p>
  <i>Fairy tales were not made for her, they were made for people like Alfred and Esme, not her...</i>
</p><p>She took a deep breath and looked at Damian again, he looked so calm, but at the same time, it was like he wanted to say something to her. They stood there, looking at each other for seconds, which seemed like an eternity to both of them, until Raven took a deep breath, deciding that she needed to take charge of her own life.</p><p>- "Time to go..." - She grunted, looking at her watch - "I... I need to go back to Metropolis..." - Damian nodded, looking into her eyes and Raven felt like the world around them was gone . She wanted to kiss him again and it took all of her body's strength not to do that. For the first time in all that time, Raven saw Damian's green eyes look like a storm that she didn't know how to face. For the first time in those days, she saw Damian have a small tear drop forming in the corner of his eye. Raven took a deep breath, rubbing her hands before getting up from the chair and giving Damian a kiss on the cheek - "Goodbye, Damian..."</p><p>- "I'm going to miss you..." - He whispered, watching her walk away as he walked over to Alfred without looking back.</p><p>- "Alfred, Esme... Hi... It's time... I have to go back to Tommy... I'm sorry..."</p><p>- "Oh" - Alfred said with a surprised tone, looking at where Damian was over Raven's shoulder - "Sure... Where's Damian? He can take you to the airport..."</p><p>- "No I..." - Raven stopped saying, she couldn't just say <i>"I don't want your grandson to take me because I'm falling in love with him, but I'm engaged to another guy"</i> - "I won't get you out of here... You just met again and there's a lot to talk about..."</p><p>- "My daughter Penny can take you..." - Esme said looking at Alfred - "I'll tell her, wait a minute..." - Esme said with a smile and walked around the house looking for her daughter. When Esme left, Raven and Alfred were waiting together. She felt that if she left Alfred's side, she would falter in her decision.</p><p>- "Alfred I'm so happy for you..." - She said with a smile. She was really happy for Alfred and Esme but things were not the same for her anymore. She didn't want to go back to Tommy and that was wrong. Alfred seemed to notice that something was happening, his expression of joy became concern.</p><p>- "There's something wrong?"</p><p>- "No...!" - Raven grunted in a voice more broken than she really wanted to demonstrate - "No... It's just... I" - She couldn't finish saying... She didn't need to finish, Alfred would understand.</p><p>- "And yet, are you leaving?" - Raven pouted trying to prevent tears from rolling down her face, nodding and Alfred just understood. He stretched out his arms and pulled Raven into a tight hug - "An angel brought her to me..." - Raven smiled and hugged Alfred as tightly as she would hug her father if she ever met him - "Thank you, Raven... Thank you... I will be forever grateful..." - Alfred gave her a kiss on the forehead.</p><p>- "Me too, Alfred..." - She grunted, letting the tears fall down her cheeks again.</p><p>Alfred helped get Raven's bags out of Damian's car and into Penny's car while Raven said goodbye to the rest of the people. Damian continued to sit in the same place in the living room and Raven knew that she had broken his heart somehow. And she felt terrible about it because somehow, for some reason, she felt that hers had also been broken.She took a deep breath and hugged Esme one last time, before getting into the car.</p><p>- "Thank you very much, Mrs. Winikus... It is very kind of you..."</p><p>- "You will always be welcome in our family, Raven..."</p><p>- "Thank you..." - She smiled, looking for the last time, hoping that Damian would stop her from going. But he didn't show up, and all Raven managed to do was take a deep breath and swallow hard, while Penny started the car, took her to the airport, took her away from her strange fairy tale too fast. Alfred and Esme watched the car follow the street until they almost disappeared on the horizon, when Damian appeared on the street, looking destroyed and with red eyes, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Alfred was heartbroken, he had never seen Damian fragile like that and he knew that Raven was also sad. Alfred walked over to Damian and took his hand, forcing the boy to look at the only man who had filled the vacant grandfather in Damian's heart all these years.</p><p>- "Master Damian, like your adopted grandfather, but still, from the family..." - He grunted crossing his arms. Damian looked at Alfred trying to understand what Alfred was saying - "I think you will understand why I say you are a perfect idiot, forgiving the word..." - Damian looked at Alfred with wide eyes and turned to him in the same instant, trying to understand where Alfred wanted to go, offending him like that.</p><p>- "Okay... So peak plainly..."</p><p>- "Of course ... How many Ravens do you think exist in the world?" - Alfred said with a smile on his lips and Damian swallowed, looking at where the car was gone - "Don't wait 50 years to find her again like I did..." - Damian had his breath caught in his throat, thinking about what Alfred had said. - "Master Damian... Go..."</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>- "Go..."</p><p>- "But and you?"</p><p>- "I'm an old man... And Master Bruce will survive without me for a day or two..." - He rolled his eyes - "Go..." - Damian staggered looking at Alfred and then, for a second of extreme madness, Damian ran to the car, almost not expecting to close the door to bolt for the airport. </p><p>
  <i>Raven was the woman of his life...</i>
</p><p>He should never have let her go. Damian advanced red lights and heard horns behind him and would probably get a few fines for that, but he didn't care, he needed to get to that airport before Raven checked in or he would miss the opportunity to tell her what he he had felt it from the first moment she said that she had written that stupid letter. If she took that flight back to Metropolis, she would be going back to her life and her stupid fiance and he would miss the chance to do that... He would never make her choose between the relationship of years and a kiss after they recite Hamlet... He just needed to tell her what he felt, he wouldn't be able to do that at Metropolis... He wouldn't have the same ounce of audacity that he was having now.He didn't want to spend his life thinking about the possibility if he had told her that he didn't care if she was engaged to a guy who didn't want to be with her. </p><p>That she deserved more than the stupid guy named Tommy offered her and he was willing to try to offer her that... Not only his love, but also his life and devotion.</p><p>But when Damian managed to get into the airport, the flight to Metropolis had just taken off. Taking Raven and his heart away, to Metropolis. Damian took a deep breath, saying <i>"no"</i> to himself when the plane disappeared over the horizon. Raven was gone, taking not only her bags, but his heart with her.Damian took a deep breath, refusing to shed a tear if he wanted to. He wouldn't give that satisfaction to the gods who liked to turn his life into a romantic tragedy.</p><p>He wouldn't be the Romeo in this story.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9: I want to be alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raven took a deep breath looking out over the balcony at the Metropolis starry night. She had never stopped to look before herself because she simply thought she didn't have time for it, but now she wondered why she hadn't done it before. From her apartment she could see the bay from afar and the point connecting Gotham to Metropolis. So close and yet so far at the same time.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair, pushing away those memories that insisted on coming back every time she was alone in her room and that she insisted on wanting to be silent. She couldn't keep thinking about Damian and what happened at Stafford, but the more she tried not to think, the more it stuck in her mind. She always felt involved in that haze of memories when she looked at the stars and now and then, her mind traveled to Gotham, wondering if he would be there.She had finished the story about the lost letter and she had everything ready to show Lois when she got back to work but she was still alone... Tommy wasn't back and she just wished she could have him by her side... Thinking about Damian and all the things he made her feel with one kiss could only be missing Tommy... <i>It had to be</i>.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath, erasing those memories for the thousandth time. By god she needed to forget this at once, she would be married in two weeks and here she was thinking about a kiss that should never have happened.She took a deep breath and decided to go in, had already taken enough air and looking at Gotham's lights from a distance didn't help her to think better about what she should do. It wasn't working trying to erase that kiss from memory knowing he was on the other side of the bay and she just needed to get a taxi to run to him. </p><p><i>No...</i> </p><p>She had to keep in mind that he wasn't that close or she was going to go crazy.In those days of solitude in his small apartment, Raven decided to train his brain to think that Damian was far away, preferably in London. So every time she remembered that he was a resident of Gotham and felt like she wanted to do something stupid, she just thought that she would have to travel to another continent and that it would be tiring and that she had to be there to wait for Tommy. She needed to think about it now, that Damian was away and Tommy was coming. She took a deep breath, bending over the balcony as she watched the movement of the street, trying not to think of anything specific in the meantime when strong arms wrapped around her. Raven's heart leapt for a millisecond and she turned quickly to look at whoever was hugging her. For a ridiculous fraction of a minute, Raven thought it might be Damian. It didn't make sense, but she didn't know how to convince her feelings about it.</p><p>- "How did you get in here?" - Raven grunted just to feel all her hopes fall down and be crushed when she saw Tommy's face and not who she really expected. It took all his strength to let his face show his disappointment and he probably failed miserably - "Ah... Tommy..."</p><p>- "Were you expecting someone else?"</p><p>- "Hm? No... Of course not" - She nodded no - "Why would I be waiting for someone?"</p><p>- "Well..." - He shrugged and smiled - "You looked disappointed when you turned..." - He raised his eyebrow - "And you said <i>Ah Tommy</i>...</p><p>- "Sorry is that... My head is far away and I thought that maybe Kory was somehow entered here..."</p><p>- "You didn't fall in love with any gallant Brit and you're thinking about him while you're with me, right? I couldn't bear to have my heart broken and to be abandoned by my little bird""</p><p>- "No... Of course not Tommy..." - Raven grunted biting her lower lip, she was a terrible liar, but she wasn't entirely lying... <i>Damian wasn't British...</i></p><p>
  <i>Okay, she sucked</i>
</p><p>- "I'm kidding you, Rae... Of course you wouldn't have fallen in love with anyone... You were on a mission with a man of what? 60 years?"</p><p>- "Hm..." - Raven took a deep breath and hugged Tommy hiding her face in his chest - "Yes... Exactly that..."</p><p>- "Okay..." - He kissed Raven's forehead - "I missed my love so much..."</p><p>- "Me too..." - Raven smiled</p><p>- "And... I have news... But first... Tell me about your adventure!"</p><p>- "Ah... It was incredible... It really was incredible..." - Raven smiled sitting on the couch hugging her own legs - "It was magical to see Alfred reuniting with Esme... And we had already given up on finding her, I was about to go back to Metropolis and-" She looked at him and noticed that he was not paying attention to anything she said. His eyes were on his cell phone as if she wasn't even saying anything. Raven took a deep breath and winced, hoping he would notice that she was there and she was saying something that was important to her.But as usual, Tommy didn't notice.It was frustrating how he just didn't give a damn what she said or what was important to her in the same way that she gave to what was important to him. Tommy never heard her say anything at all and he never cared if she was comfortable with it ... And because she liked him, she accepted it as the kind of relationship she could have. She didn't want to be abandoned again so she did her best, always supporting whether that action would make her feel sad or not.Raven took a deep breath and stood up going to the kitchen giving up trying to make him understand. She had been in this for so long that it didn't make sense to want to change. She could get used to it again, right?</p><p>- "Sorry, my love... Important e-mail from college..." - He grunted, stuffing his cell phone in his pocket again - "Were you saying anything important?"</p><p>- "Hm... No, I was just telling you about how amazing it was to travel to England... Nothing big..."</p><p>- "Ah..." - He nodded - "Paris was incredible... Livorno too... Ah I brought you a gift, wait..." - He ran to the bags that were in a corner and came back to her afterwards with both hands back - "Close your eyes...."</p><p>- "Erm... Okay..." - Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes as he said waiting for what he had bought as a gift for her. Tommy was not the type to buy gifts for a girlfriend so it was a little surprising that he actually thought of her at some point.Raven felt him hold her hand and for a brief moment, Raven believed in the possibility that he had bought a ring, but that possibility was ruled out the moment he put her palm up and deposited something straight on it. It looked like velvet, like a jewelry box but a box too big for a ring.</p><p>- "You can open your eyes..." - Raven took a deep breath and opened her eyes, blinking to get used to the brightness of the light. In her hands there was the velvet box of a necklace apparently, which made Raven surprised, scared and feeling even worse for having kissed another guy. - "Come on... Open..."</p><p>- "Er... Okay..." - She smiled crookedly and nodded, holding the blue velvet box with one hand and opening the silver clasp with the other. Inside the box, Raven felt all her frustration hitting her twice.</p><p>Here was the explanation of why Tommy was not the type to give gifts to his girlfriends... He sucked at it. Inside the box was a gold necklace with a heart-shaped pendant the size of 3 fingers. Tommy and a photo camera had written inside his heart.</p><p>- "Liked? Yes? Of Course? Yes"</p><p>- "Ahnn... Yes... Of course I... I loved it... Hm..." - She swallowed - "Has... It has your name and everything..."</p><p>- "Yes! I ordered it myself..."</p><p>- "This... This is incredible... Very cool..." - Raven forced a smile that probably looked like a frown but luckily it was with Tommy she was talking to - "I'll save it so I don't lose... Okay..."</p><p>- "No... Let me put this on you, come here... - Raven moaned almost asking him not to do this, she couldn't go out with that necklace on the street but, she couldn't tell him that she hated that and that definitely giving a person that necklace should be a constitutional crime.Tommy didn't seem to notice her discomfort and it was definitely no surprise to her, from the beginning Tommy never noticed how uncomfortable she was when he just left her talking to herself or when he just abandoned her on a Honeymoon walk to study...</p><p>
  <i>Damian Wayne wouldn't do that...</i>
</p><p><i><b>Stop...</b></i> </p><p>Stop thinking that...Tommy put the necklace around Raven's neck with the excitement of who had won the lottery and Raven felt horrible for not being able to share the same feeling as him. He just wanted to give her a present and was she thinking of another one again?</p><p>
  <i>Raven Roth, you are a heartless monster</i>
</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and thanked him for the gift as best she could and decided to leave it hidden inside her clothes when she left, she didn't want to walk around with a sign as if he owned it and she felt bad about taking it out every day when she went to work and put it on when she got home.But she could put it hidden in her blouses... Nobody would see it and she wouldn't feel bad for taking it off. Tommy stayed up late at night telling her about all the wonderful things that happened on that trip and as much as she wasn't really interested in how cool the picture of a damn American president was from some ancient time, she listened until she fell asleep. At least it helped her to stop thinking about Damian and that was something. </p><p>Things remained exactly the same for the rest of her vacation and the more the week of her wedding approached, the less excitement she felt. Two weeks to the wedding and Kory said she looked like she was being taken to the slaughterhouse. She always wondered if she was being cruel for not releasing Tommy, but she just hated the idea of being alone. She couldn't run after Damian and Tommy really liked her, or at least that's what she wanted to believe... She spent so many years trying not to abandon the people she loved as her mother that she just settled for her zone. comfort.</p><p>Tommy was that comfort zone... She would be old and gray in that comfort zone... She was afraid of changes and adventures that would turn her life upside down... Damian was one of those adventures that turned her life upside down and everything came out of one way she didn't know if she could fix it. She should stay in the comfort zone that Tommy meant</p><p>
  <i>Stop thinking about him, for God's sake</i>
</p><p> </p><p>____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Raven thanked herself mentally that she would be back at work the next day and almost fell out of bed when Lois called saying she had arranged a meeting with Perry White to show her what she had written. Lois had read a part still without the edits she needed to make and liked it so much that she managed to show it to the head of the newspaper. The next day she woke up earlier than she was used to. He was unable to stay in bed when anxiety ran through his veins and made her think of all the things she should say and do when she arrived at the Daily Planet. What if what she wrote was a bunch of passionate bullshit and had no commercial appeal? Raven just couldn't help his mind buzzing in his ear with excitement and fear. She organized everything she needed to take, dressed as formally as possible in that white button-up shirt of luck and the pinstripe skirt she kept in the bottom of the wardrobe just for emergency situations and before leaving, checked the thousandth time if everything was right.<br/>
And it was all right because she had just checked that in the past two hours...</p><p>Raven couldn't contain her excitement in the waiting room until she was called to Perry White's office. Lois was standing against a bookshelf, arms crossed and Perry White was sitting at a table, his jacket on the chair while he held a pen in his hands and scratched it on paper.</p><p>- "Perry, this is Raven Roth... Our fact checker..." - Lois smiled pointing at Raven - "The best we have here, to be honest..." - Perry looked up from the paper and looked at Raven for a long time time, as if trying to remember who she was. Raven felt like he could throw up.</p><p>She couldn't throw up at a job interview...</p><p>- "Ah! The girl from the Romeo and Juliet story..." - He grunted nodding- "Exactly, Perry..."</p><p>- "So what is it about?"</p><p>- "Ahnn..."</p><p>- "Your story... What is it about?"</p><p>- "Ah... Of course" - Raven took a deep breath and handed her story to Perry. - "I met a group of women in Verona who help people with all kinds of problems in the love field, codenamed <i>"Juliet's Secretaries"</i>... They answer dozens and dozens of letters every day and do it with incredible mastery... I stayed with them for 3 days and ended up having the opportunity to answer a letter that had been hidden in the wall of Juliet's house for over 50 years, the name of the author of the letter was Alfred..."</p><p>- "Alfred?" - Perry raised his eyebrow - "Okay... At least we have names..."</p><p>- "Er... Yes..." - Raven slowly nodded and Perry smiled, starting to devour what Raven had written.</p><p>- "Perry, I asked her to write a story..."</p><p>- "Yes Lois..." - Perry grunted devouring the last pages as if it was his favorite book and then looked at Raven - "Did they authorize you to write about it?"</p><p>- "Yes they allowed and... Read a little before I came then..."</p><p>- "Oh man... This is going to be fantastic... Lane, you know what to do..." - Perry said smiling and waving to Lois. She smiled and nodded, leaving the room as quickly as lightning - "And what happened?" - He grunted reading the last paragraph. Raven was uneasy... She knew that the ending had gone bad and now, he would probably say it was bad and could not publish it.</p><p>- "Didn't like the end?"</p><p>- "The end is good, it is moving... But what happened to people? Are they together? And the boy? Damian, right? Where is he?" - Raven swallowed bitterly regretting having put Damian in the story. She shouldn't have mentioned the night under the stars and as <i>"love was everywhere"</i> just skipping the kiss part, that had been stupid.</p><p>- "I... I don't know..." - She grunted looking at her hands on her lap - "We didn't keep in touch..." - Perry nodded slowly, reading the last sheet again and she honestly didn't know if that was good or bad. Perry's silence consumed her and made her restless and anxious - "So... Any advice?"</p><p>- "I think you should buy Alitalia shares..." - He smiled and Raven looked at him without understanding what he was saying - "Because women are going to flock to Verona..."</p><p>- "Are you going to publish this?"</p><p>- "I will... I will... It is a good story" - He nodded - "Lois went to get the paperwork in HR... You start as a tourism columnist today after lunch... Apparently Lane was already preparing your office before you arrived so I don't see why we don't start today..."</p><p>- "I'm sorry sir, are you serious?"</p><p>- "Of course I am, Roth..." - He put the sheets in an envelope - "Is there anything else for me?"</p><p>- "No... At the moment, no..."</p><p>- "Okay... Don't forget to look for Lois before leaving and please, already think about the next article you are going to write... This will win a special of 3 editions in the area of culture and tourism so we need more for after it's over and... You never thought of being a writer? That would make a great romance book..."</p><p>- "Oh... No... I never thought but... Thank you... Thank you so much...!" - Perry smiled and nodded yes placing the envelope in a basket written <i>"publish"</i> - "So if that's all, see you at the next editorial meeting, Raven..." - He reached out to shake Raven's hand with a smile and Raven didn't know how to contain it. She had made it, had won a 3 week special in the newspaper and had gotten the promotion she wanted. Her heart didn't fit in her chest with such joy and she needed to let it out.</p><p>Raven called Tommy almost immediately. She needed to tell him before he could find something else to tell her. This time, she would make him listen. Tommy met her at a restaurant not far from there, also looking very excited for Raven's opinion. He gave her a quick kiss and sat down across from her.</p><p>- "Hi, Rae...!"</p><p>- "Hi..." - She said with a smile that she couldn't contain on her face</p><p>- "How is your day?"</p><p>- "Ahnn... I had a meeting with the head of the newspaper today and I showed my story to Perry White..."</p><p>- "And he liked it?"</p><p>- "Yes... He will publish and... I am the new editor of the tourism column!"</p><p>- "Will he publish ?!" - He raised an eyebrow - "And did you get a promotion? So your story is great, isn't it?"</p><p>- "I know..." - Raven smiled and then paid attention to what he had said, the phrase echoing in her head. She had left him a copy of the version she showed Perry days before and he said he would read it as soon as he finished putting together the portfolio he was supposed to take to school in Paris... He had been doing it since he was been accepted and Raven never saw him finish - "You read it, didn't you? I left a copy with you days ago..."</p><p>- "Erm..." - He bit his lip - "I don't need to read, you know? I know it looks great..." - Raven's smile turned into a face of disappointment that she couldn't help but Tommy noticed - "Look... I'll read it when it comes out in the newspaper, okay? I prefer to buy and be surprised, like whoa!"</p><p>- "Unbelievable..." - Raven muttered rubbing his face - "You said you would read..."</p><p>- "I'll read it, Rae... I promise to buy it when I go out and read..."</p><p>- "Okay... Okay... Whatever" - Raven took a deep breath and leaned against the chair suddenly feeling like a fool and reflecting on their relationship as a couple. If that would be his reaction every time she had something new to say, maybe their relationship was no longer what they thought it was. Tommy was a great friend, but Raven felt like he was just that to her. A friend who lived on the same roof as her, a roommate who would be gone in a few weeks. She didn't know how long she would put up with it, but she just nodded.She would talk to him about it at another time, now she just thought about how happy she must be for finally having achieved what she always dreamed of. Being a journalist and writing... Never again having to go looking for people in photo backgrounds and the truth of the things represented in them. Tommy accompanied Raven to a cafe while she talked about the meeting and then left quickly saying that she also had good news, but that she would tell her about the evening during the celebration dinner. They would go to a fancy restaurant for a kind of wedding rehearsal (even though it was just her and Tommy, he insisted on following that tradition because he wanted Raven to have some of what a real wedding was.</p><p>Raven accepted because they hadn't really gone out to celebrate anything for two or three years and that should be a big thing then... Tommy wouldn't reserve the most expensive restaurant in Metropolis just because of a stupid wedding tradition. She returned to work shortly after he left her saying that he still needed to work out some important things and Raven could barely contain the huge smile that took her face again when she found Kory.</p><p>- "Raven! Oh my god Raven, I just heard the news!" - She smiled - "If there is anyone who deserves this promotion at work it is you..."</p><p>- "Raven! Finally you arrived from your lunch... Come with me, let's go to your room... I already had everything ready for when you came back because I knew you were going to be able to impress Perry" - she smiled - "Oh this trip must have been so... inspiring... I want to hear details... You look great, you have a healthy face and even a little tan... Smallville will have to take me to Verona on vacation..."</p><p>- "See you later okay?" - Kory waved to Raven, walking to her table</p><p>- "Yeah... It was..." - Raven grunted with a smile on his face</p><p>- "Oh... Oh that smile... I know that smile, Raven Roth..." - She crossed her arms laughing - "Did you finally throw Tommy's phone out the window and he stopped acting like you were one of his cameras?</p><p>- "No..." - Raven made a face - "Tommy stayed most of the time in Livorno and I ended up going to the UK with the people in my story..."</p><p>- "What?"</p><p>-" What?"</p><p>- "Did you just spend your honeymoon apart?"</p><p>- "Ahnn... Tommy had things to do and I honestly saw no problem with that..."</p><p>- "Raven... It was your honeymoon... Not a trip of friends..." - Lois said with the shocked tone that Raven always talked about Tommy - "He solves one or another thing over the phone? Okay... He stay in one country and you in another during the honeymoon? Totally not okay..."</p><p>- "We are like that and it's okay..." - Raven shrugged - "It was satisfactory for both of us so everything is fine... It always worked..."</p><p>- "When was the last time you had a good night of sex?"</p><p>- "I'm not going to answer that..." - Lois raised her eyebrow again - "Ahnn... I don't know... There must be 2 or 3-"</p><p>- "Weeks?"</p><p>- "Months..."</p><p>- "Raven... You are not just living a honeymoon before the wedding..." - Lois said almost desperately - "You are already in a 30 year marriage where you wonder if you made the right choice... 3 months without sex?"</p><p>- "Lois is no big deal..."</p><p>- "And that Damian...? He is cute? Hot? It didn't make you think at any time what the hell of life you were taking?" - She crossed her arms closing the door - "Jonathan knows a Damian that is the sacrifice that a mother can carry but, he is a good boy... By the way, you know that if you need more holidays and more tan, Jon can take you for a weekend in Kansas..."</p><p>- "Ahnn... I'm not going to tell you about Damian because I have nothing to say about Damian and I don't want to talk about what happened to him on this trip because I just don't know.... I haven't had contact with him since I took the flight to Metropolis and... For God's sake, woman... Stop pushing your son to me, I'm getting married next week..." - She grunted laughing</p><p>- "You don't want that... You know that..."</p><p>- "I don't want what?"</p><p>- "Raven... Isn't it possible that you didn't think about it... Getting married?" - She leaned against the table - "Okay, you've been together all this time but, you know you deserve more... And you know you should let Tommy go..." - Raven bit her lip - "You should be together during the honeymoon from you and you were separated..."</p><p>- "He knew I needed space..."</p><p>- "And that is exactly the problem, Raven... Getting married is not just having someone on your side when you go to sleep... You need to have trust, companionship, passion... Your relationship is being pushed to the limit of you and it will hurt you when it is too late to go back..." - She crossed her arms - "For the love of god, you will get married because he will travel..."</p><p>- "Raven..." - a woman knocked on the door interrupting Lois - "A package arrived for you and these are your messages..."</p><p>- "Erm... Thank you..." - Raven smiled taking the papers as she placed them on the table. The woman closed the door again and Raven turned to Lois - "And what do you suggest? Just breakup a week before the wedding?"</p><p>- "Maybe I am?" - She raised her eyebrow - "You need to think about how you want this to go..." - She took a deep breath - "Weigh your priorities and how your relationship is working..." - Raven nodded and let her breath out slowly while things that Lois said would fall into your mind.</p><p>Lois was right but, she couldn't be like that... She couldn't just tell Tommy that she didn't want it anymore when they were going to dinner over it. She just couldn't abandon everything, especially when Tommy finally seemed anxious about something in their relationship that didn't involve photography.</p><p>- "Lois..."</p><p>- "Well, I know you're going to think about it because you know this is wrong... And I'm not talking about you thinking about it just because you told me that you had 3 months without having sex... It's because you know this isn't dating... You're friends living together, you don't mind being away from each other..." - She smiled and ran her hand over Raven's face, putting her hair a lock of hair behind Raven's ear.</p><p>- "I know..." - Raven nodded slowly, she took a deep breath letting the air out slowly - "I know you want me to think but... I can't do that..." - she rubbed her hand over her face - "I can't finish him with a week to go... I just can't..." - Lois looked at Raven for a few seconds before huffing, stroking the top of Raven's head before pulling away from the table.</p><p>- "Well... You need to think about your relationship and if this is what you really want and what needs to be changed..." - She gave a kiss on Raven's forehead that just closed her eyes and nodded - "Anything, I'm in my office okay? If you need advice or Jon's address..." - <i>There was Lois Lane being her again</i></p><p>- "Shut up, Lois Lane..."</p><p>- "I can't miss the opportunity, you know that" - she laughed - "Anyway... Anything you need, give me a sign... Okay?" - Raven nodded and Lois caressed her face and left the room leaving Raven more confused than she was before. She still felt bad about kissing Damian and still thinking about him every night before going to sleep and the things she felt in such a short time with him. She wanted to believe that she was missing Tommy just to notice that nothing had changed when Tommy was already on her side.</p><p>Would she really marry someone with another guy in mind? Liking another one guy? Having deep feelings for another guy?</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and shook her head and decided to see the letters she had received. There were some envelopes of job responses that she had checked that she had to pass to the new checker and a large, thick envelope written in bold letters. Raven smiled and opened the envelope just to be surprised that the content was an invitation from Alfred inviting her to lunch at the mansion, to seal his and Esme's romance after so many years in 3 weeks and the letter Alfred left on Juliet's wall for 50 years ago.</p><p><i>Raven could hardly believe it!</i> </p><p>They were going to have a happy ending that they deserved and that was satisfying for her heart. She was happy that they didn't need months or years together to decide this, even after 50 years, they loved each other as before and that was enough for them to be together in just weeks.Raven would definitely go to that lunch...</p><p>She leaned back in her chair rereading Alfred's letter for the thousandth time, each letter and each comma making her heart flutter in a strange way... She was doing exactly the same thing that Alfred did... She was running away because she thought it was better do that and she couldn't help feeling bad about it.She couldn't continue this marriage... But she didn't know if she could end it without feeling horrible about it.</p><p>Lois was right even though she didn't know she was liking someone else... Really liking someone else. She would talk to Tommy at the right time about these problems and what happened in the UK and about the sentimental confusion she was going through, she just didn't know how to say it... Besides, Tommy had something to talk to her, anyway, and she couldn't even imagine what it was. Raven went home, got ready quickly, and went to find Tommy at the restaurant in that restaurant for that important dinner. Raven wasn't excited and she was doing her best not to show it but it was difficult, she felt like she was being forced into something and she was still thinking about the conversation with Lois and Alfred's letter. Tommy received her with a smile on his lips and waving for her to sit in the chair facing him. He didn't even get up to pull the chair out for her and that was... <i>something</i>.</p><p>- "You look beautiful, baby..." - He spoke softly - "I asked for pasta for us..."</p><p>- "Ahnn.. Okay..." - Raven nodded slowly- "You know how I love it when you wear red, don't you? I'll miss it..." - He smiled - "by the way, that's what I want to talk to you about..."</p><p>- "About Paris?" - Raven raised an eyebrow - "Something happened?"</p><p>- "Yes...!" - He smiled excitedly - "Wine? I asked for an Italian because we had that one on the first day in Verona and I can't forget how good it was..."</p><p>- "No, I... I don't want wine..."</p><p>- "Okay... But, how was it at work? You are a tourism columnist now... A journalist at the most respected newspaper in Metropolis... That's what you wanted, isn't it?"</p><p>- "Yes... Yes..." - She took a deep breath</p><p>- "Ah this is so exciting! We both got our dream careers... I'll buy and read it when it comes out... Ah, your aunt Alice will be so happy when she hears that you are going to write for the Daily Planet!" - Raven took a deep breath and just smiled</p><p>- "Tommy I... I think we need to talk..."</p><p>- "Did something happen?"</p><p>- "Hm... Yes... I-"</p><p>- "Wait, let me tell you about Paris..." - Raven took a deep breath and nodded. It was no use, he would never change and he would never pay attention to what she said and would never let her finish saying something before turning it into something about him - "I got a call today... They invited me to Paris on Monday fair and start preparing for the semester ... So, I will be able to locate myself in the location and learn the language and..."</p><p>- "On Monday?" - Raven raised her eyebrow - "But... You'll be back, right?"</p><p>- "Ahnn... About that..."</p><p>- "Tommy, the wedding is next week!"</p><p>- "Yes, I know and that sucks... But it is an opportunity you can't miss..."</p><p>- "So you plan on just leaving before the wedding and let me know today?"</p><p>- "I didn't plan..." - He raised his eyebrows - "It happened and we can postpone the wedding until later so you also have time to look at that apartment we wanted to-"</p><p>- "Stop..." - Raven grunted with closed eyes - "Just stop..."</p><p>- "Raven? Did something happen?" - He grunted</p><p>- "It just happened..." - Raven took a deep breath. There was no way, he already wanted to postpone that and she didn't want to continue, there was no reason to just keep accepting... She needed to finish this or if not, she would explode - "Hm... I was thinking of saying this to you later but... Alfred and Esme are getting married..."</p><p>- "Erm... Okay..." - He looked at her confused, not understanding what Raven meant by that - "Really? Wow! When?"</p><p>- "Ahnn... In 3 weeks... At Wayne mansion..."</p><p>- "In 3 weeks?"</p><p>- "Yes..." - Raven took a deep breath - "And I want to go..." - Raven looked down - "Alone..." - Tommy looked at her for a second and then crossed his arms</p><p>- "Well, of course I'll have gone to Paris anyway and-"</p><p>- "Tommy... That's not it..." - She said in an almost whisper, her eyes stung and she felt terrible. When she looked back at Tommy, things actually seemed to fall for him. He no longer had the excitement of the rest and his brown eyes were too dark - "I really want to go alone... Single"</p><p>- "Alone..." - He repeated softly and then nodded yes - "Raven, wait..."</p><p>- "Tommy let me talk... Please..." - She took a deep breath and looked at him. Tommy nodded and looked at her seriously, waiting for an explanation - "This... This between us is not working anymore... Sometimes I wonder if it ever worked but..."</p><p>- "Is this because of the wedding? So we got married tomorrow, or before I left for Paris..."</p><p>- "This is not because of the wedding, Tommy" - She took a deep breath - "I mean, part is... But it's not because of the wedding..."</p><p>- "What happened then ...?"</p><p>- "I... I don't know what that is anymore..." - She took a deep breath feeling her heart breaking chains that kept him trapped. It was as if she had been removing layers and layers of weight from her back and now she couldn't stop. For the first time, Raven felt she needed to be alone. Truly alone - "I don't know what we're doing..."</p><p>- "Raven..."</p><p>- "Tommy please... Let me finish saying something at least once, for God's sake..." - Raven took a deep breath with her eyes closed - "We went on vacation and we weren't even together..."</p><p>- "Yes because you were busy writing your article and I didn't care..."</p><p>- "Tommy you were busy too... You barely noticed that I went to another country because you wanted to go to a workshop..."</p><p>- "But it was working for both of us... We were having fun and I didn't care that you were going to have fun with what you liked..."</p><p>- "I know! You were too busy and-"</p><p>- "Oh come on..."</p><p>- "You went to Livorno and I didn't care..."</p><p>- "No, Raven... No..." - He crossed his arms irritated - "You will not blame it on my back..."</p><p>- "I'm not doing this... It's not my fault or your fault just... We both got it wrong because we got used to it and ended up letting things go that way... We hardly slept together and this is the first time in years that you asked me to dinner to say that you are happy to postpone our wedding to go to another continent..."</p><p>- "Raven... You make it look like I don't care about you..."</p><p>- "Sometimes I felt it... I know you're chasing your dreams but... Where am I in this...?" - Raven laughed awkwardly trying to explain herself better - "Tommy, we went out on Honeymoon and didn't mind being away from each other... I traveled to England with a guy and you didn't even think about being jealous... You went to Livorno and all I thought was that it would be good if you weren't around so I could write in peace... It wasn't supposed to be that way... We have to want to be together all the time..."</p><p>- "I know, baby... But... It's our future... I'm improving so that our future is glorious... I want you to have a queen's life when we get very old... I want you to stay at home taking care of our children and I need to be the best for that...</p><p><i>Wait</i>, did he just suggest that she would abandon everything she took to life and years of study when they had children? That was the proof that Raven needed to know that Tommy didn't know her...</p><p>- "It's your future, Tommy... Not mine..." - Raven took a deep breath trying to make him understand - "I... I didn't want to do it this way, but..." - Tommy looked at her for a long period in silence and then he nodded, leaning toward her as if he finally understood what she said - "We are not what we should be..." - Raven took a deep breath.</p><p>- "Well, I wish I could say that everything will be different..." - he said, his tone low and hoarse - "I wanted to say that I will be different if you give me a chance... But..." - His voice broke - "That's me...." - He took a deep breath</p><p>- "I know..." - Raven stretched to rub his face - "And I love..." - Raven took a deep breath - "I love who you are... But... I changed..." - She let go air relieved to take everything off her chest - "I'm not that high school girl anymore..." - She smiled embarrassed - "And what we have is not working anymore..." - Tommy nodded slowly as if he finally understood that Raven didn't would go back.</p><p>- "Okay..." - He looked at her - "But... Let it be recorded that it wasn't me who abandoned you this time..." </p><p>
  <i>Great...</i><br/>
<i>That hurt</i>
</p><p>He was going to play dirty now... Not that she was feeling bad about everything that happened and how this conversation ended up happening, would he also say that she was abandoning him? Everything she needed to hear at that moment. Raven wiped away the lonely tear that ran down her face and nodded</p><p>- "I know Tommy..." - She looked at him - "And I'm sorry for that..." - She let go of his hand - "But I need to be alone for a while... Truly alone and totally by my choice... I-I hope that after that, you can understand that it was the best for both of us..." - She stood up taking the coat she had placed on the chair - "I wish you all the luck in Paris, Tommy..." - Raven she smiled weakly and hugged him tightly, handing the necklace he had given her to him. She was handing his heart over to him again and she hoped he would understand that she was not doing it out of spite, but to not hurt him after everything went wrong. She didn't look back when she walked out of the restaurant, feeling sad and hurt but at the same time, free.</p><p>She had never chosen to be alone and now, she has experienced a freedom that she didn't know how to deal with. She stopped to look at the stars, not caring about the collisions she made from people walking fast as they returned home or the sound of cars on the street. She wanted to look at the stars because it was the first time she felt free to do so. She knew Tommy would get over it and soon, he would be fine again. She would be whole and happy and would have time for her life and her things... Maybe she would travel to Verona again at some point and maybe, she would go to other places in the world. Raven no longer wanted to be just an accessory for a person... She didn't need that.</p><p>Raven ended up staying with the apartment, Tommy was going to stay in Paris for the next few years and he didn't want to have to take care of real estate in Metropolis so he saw no problem with leaving it to Raven, and she thanked him immensely when he went to get her things. Her life was too hot a mess to be able to worry about buying an apartment and she didn't want to leave her job... Apartments in that area were not easy to find and when she was, they were worth 3 years of work. uninterrupted. She didn't want to miss the small 1 bedroom apartment she had got there.</p><p>He was still hurt by the breakup when he went to get his things, but apparently he had finally realized that Raven was right and that they were more friends than a couple. He apologized for insinuating that she was abandoning him and they were apparently fine... He tried to change her mind but Raven was fine and happy with the way their relationship was now... As good friends, not two pesos each other's lives.</p><p>Raven learned more and more in those three weeks that loneliness was not as bad as she believed it would be. The things she could do, the places she could visit, the people she met. Raven's greatest fear became her release and she feared it for so long and now, she barely remembered what it was like not to be free.<br/>
Sometimes Raven felt like he saw Damian somewhere. She wanted to be able to talk to him and apologize for everything that happened and how it happened. She shouldn't have kissed him and she shouldn't have run out of London but, she just didn't know if he would want to hear her. She still thought about him every night but, she knew she shouldn't... Damian probably wouldn't remember her after almost a month and a half.</p><p>Things improved and much for her as the days went by and she learned to live with her own loneliness. She could see now that it must have been a decision she should have made a long time ago... There were years when she could have found herself as a person in addition to being able to let Tommy follow his dreams and get to know someone better, but she didn't regretted nothing she lived until she got there, if she hadn’t engaged to Tommy she wouldn’t have gone to Verona, met Alfred and fell in love so quickly with someone like Damian...</p><p>She still thought about him every day, wondering how he should be and now and then, she heard something about the Wayne family in the at the Daily Planet gossip session but she didn’t look for what it was, she hadn’t revealed that the surname of the people of her famous story because she knew what an uproar it would be if they knew who they were... Damian Wayne was the most reserved person of all Wayne, if she said that the guy who recited Hamlet under the stars was him, neither she nor they would have peace of mind to get on with their lives.</p><p>The last thing Raven wanted was for Alfred and Damian's lives to become media hell.</p><p>Raven's story was successful, the editorial received dozens of letters and emails from people asking for more about Juliet's house wall and Isabella had said that someone always commented that it had seen the news in the newspaper on American soil... Maybe she should have followed Perry's advice and bought shares in Alitalia... Women should be traveling in flocks to Verona for spiritual advice...</p><p>As lunch at Wayne's house approached, Raven started to get too nervous. She didn't know what it would be like to find Damian after all this time and she didn't know how she would react if she found him... Say <i>“oh, hi! I'm sorry I kissed you and ran away”</i> didn't seem enough or the best to say and she was sure he would look at her with that crease between his eyebrows that he always made when he was angry with her... He stayed with her for long enough for Raven to notice that.</p><p>The celebration would take place during the day and to everyone's delight, the gods seemed to cooperate by sending Gotham a sunny day and a clear sky as it was almost never seen. Raven had to remember that she no longer had Tommy to drive her everywhere and had to end up going to Gotham by taxi, feeling her heart flutter with every feeling that the car was advancing across the bridge leaving Metropolis behind. Taking her straight to Damian and his emerald eyes.</p><p>
  <i>Two cities divided by a bridge...</i>
</p><p><i>Two hearts divided by a bridge...</i><br/>
Raven walked between people she didn't know and people she didn't even imagine there (Lois, Clark, Jonathan and Conner were there and Raven found that the Kent and Wayne were more friends than she imagined). She had hoped to find Alfred or Esme but with each unknown face, her heart threatened to leave her chest a little more.<br/>
She was looking everywhere when her eyes met Damian's not far from where she was and in a mix of confusion and relief, a smile appeared on his lips. He quietly said goodbye to the two guys he was talking to and walked towards Raven and oh god, he was so handsome in that suit that Raven suddenly felt that her dress was too tight for her to breathe.</p><p>- "Raven...?"</p><p>- "Er, hi!" - She smiled tightly squeezing the small bag she was holding, she needed to do something with her hands and to control the urge to touch his face.</p><p>- "Hi..." - He released his breath looking at her, while putting his hands in his pocket.</p><p>
  <i>It didn't help...</i>
</p><p>Damian looked at her from head to toe, his eyes lingering for a few seconds longer on Raven's collarbone. She felt hot, about to explode, could a look do that to a person? How?Damn time when she let Kory help her choose a dress, she felt too exposed in that pink dress with that V-neck... She must have been ridiculous in that color.</p><p>- "Hi..." - She smiled and they looked at each other for a few seconds. It seemed like an eternity to Raven, it was as if the world around her had just turned off and she was under the bewitched light that his jade eyes cast on her. It felt painful to breathe but she liked to feel it</p><p>- "I can't believe you came!" - Damian said softly smiling, swinging on his heels - "And you look beautiful... How are things? Are you going to stay in Gotham today? Are you staying somewhere?"</p><p>- "Ahnn... No, I don't think so... I have to work and Metropolis is right there on the other side of the bridge..."</p><p>- "You don't have to worry about that... You stay here at the mansion today... Grayson takes you tomorrow... Or the day you want to go..."</p><p>- "Erm... Okay I... I'll think about..." - She smiled, changing her handbag again. He looked so nervous and yet so... <i>Damian</i>.... </p><p>Her heart couldn't handle it.</p><p>- "Okay..."</p><p>- "And how is Alfred? Awesome as always?"</p><p>- "Even more..." - He smiled looking at her in a tender way, seeming not knowing what to say. Raven didn't know how to continue the conversation without telling him what she wanted: <i>Apologize for being a coward</i>.</p><p>- "Erm... Actually, I wanted to..."</p><p>- "Oh! I found you!" - A woman interrupted them holding Damian by the arm. She had dark hair just below her ear, her voice soft and low and almost as tall as Damian. Raven took a deep breath and swallowed.</p><p>
  <i>Okay... He really went on with his life without her</i>
</p><p>- "Did something happen?"</p><p>- "Nothing happened... It's just that we are ready..." - She said looking at Damian - "Dick said that Esme will be here soon..." - Damian opened a bigger smile and nodded and Raven stopped herself from staggering. <i>What was she thinking?</i> She ran, left him in London with a broken heart and spent almost two months without looking for him. She let him believe that she was still engaged, that she was married to Tommy now because she preferred the comfort zone than throwing herself into a volcano of feelings that she wanted to silence because she thought it best.</p><p>Fairy tales were for other people, not for her...</p><p>Damian looked at the girl and Raven and then at Cassandra again with that stupid smile on his face again. Raven tried to disguise that her blue eyes were probably threatening to spill over but she had a feeling she was failing miserably at that ... She was angry with herself and she had only herself to blame.</p><p>- "Raven... This is Cassandra Cain..." - He pointed to the girl with his hand</p><p>- "Oh..." - Okay, that was his new girlfriend... <i>Congratulations Raven...</i> Raven smiled the least fake she could and reached out to greet the woman who looked at him with a surprised look, taking Raven's hand tightly - "Hi...!"</p><p>- "The Raven"? - She smiled incredulously, looking at Damian<br/>
- "Yes... <b>The</b> Raven..." - Damian said with a smile on his lips, looking at Raven.</p><p>- "It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" - Cassandra said pulling Raven by surprise for a hug. Cassandra must have been happy to meet the woman responsible for making her probably know the handsome, sexy and millionaire Damian Wayne... Raven honestly couldn't feel the same... Cassandra looked so cool, with her dragon tattoo on her arm but, Raven was heartbroken... She would use the wedding to cry at will and say afterwards that she was thrilled with the ceremony. Raven couldn't say anything, just nodded, her mouth forming a thin smile as she tightly gripped her bag again - "Well..." - She let go of Raven's hand and turned to Damian again, holding his shoulder - "See you inside..."</p><p>- "Okay..." - Damian smiled</p><p>- "Don't stumble, Damian!"</p><p>- "I don't stumble!" - Damian grunted with raised eyebrows as Cassandra walked away.</p><p>- "Bye Raven!"</p><p>- "Hm... Bye..." - Raven took a deep breath and smiled the best she could, watching her run to where the chairs were positioned. Damian also looked in her direction, before turning to Raven again</p><p>- "Alfred asked me to be his best man and... Esme asked me to come in with her..." - He smiled embarrassed - "I won't deny it, I'm quite nervous... I've never done this before..."</p><p>- "You will do well..." - Raven smiled, trying to mask the voice the best she could, but she needed to get out of there before collapsing - "Hm... Very well..."</p><p>- "It was great to see you again..." - Damian said reaching out to touch her arm, but putting his hand back in his pocket.</p><p>- "I will... I will sit..." - Raven smiled passing him, Damian seemed nervous after Cassandra appeared and Raven knew it was because it was an embarrassing situation. She felt like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to say it.</p><p>Raven took a deep breath and walked among the guests, walking over to the white chairs lined with flowers that faced a beautiful band of flowers. Raven was surprised when she found Isabella, Giovanna, Donatella and Bianca together in a row.</p><p>- "Raven!" - Isabella said with a smile, getting up to hug her - "Good to see you..."</p><p>- "Good to see you!"</p><p>- "You look beautiful... You look radiant..."</p><p>- "And your fiance? Where is he?"</p><p>- "Erm... Long story" - Raven smiled - "But in short, we decided that it was not what we wanted then, it was better to end the relationship before things got in a way that we could not fix after..." - She took a deep breath - "Tommy went to Paris last week... But I'm surprised that you are here! That we are here!"</p><p>- "It's incredible, isn't it? They got together because of you..."</p><p>- "They stayed together because they love each other and their love goes beyond the barrier of time, Donatella... I was just the agent of chaos..." - Raven said smiling. Alfred was at the altar with 3 other guys along with him and Bruce Wayne, in his impeccable pose. Raven waved to Alfred with a smile on his face and one of the boys waved back, making Raven stifle a giggle.</p><p>People started to head to the rows of chairs and sit down, apparently the bride had arrived and the ceremony was about to begin. Raven was so happy that everything had worked out that she couldn't be sad that Damian went on with her life. She had no such right.</p><p>She lost that right the moment she chose to leave for Metropolis and never look for him again.</p><p>When everyone sat in their chairs and soft music started playing, everyone stood up and looked towards the red carpet spread on the floor. A girl with eyes as blue as the sky that day, hair as dark as night and a lilac dress came walking on the carpet, throwing flower petals along the way and then Esme came walking with Damian holding her hand elegantly. Esme wore a white suit and skirt set and held a bouquet of white wildflowers that Raven found the most beautiful and pure thing she witnessed and Alfred, in his best British gentleman pose, tried to control himself not to cry seeing Esme walking in across the carpet now full of flowers. Everyone was happy for Alfred and even Bruce Wayne smiled big seeing his adoptive father happy that way. Alfred and Esme looked so happy and fulfilled and Raven was happy to have been part of it, made her believe in impossible things.<br/>
In the end, she didn't think she was such a bad cupid</p><p>Damian took Esme to the altar and made sure to hold Alfred and Esme's hands together, while smiling at Alfred and then left to stay where the other boys were, taking the place of best man. Esme wore the pearl earring that she once left as an amulet for Alfred and when he saw her, silvery tears streamed down his face as he put a lock of hair behind her ear.<br/>
There was so much love between those two that anyone who looked at them could see that...</p><p>The ceremony was thrilling, and Raven cried for everything she hadn't cried, but mostly because she was happy for Alfred and Esme and even, happy for Damian and in the end, everyone came out in a shower of rice that Raven was sure that she was going to need to shake her head a few times to get everything out. Raven noticed that Damian looked at her throughout the ceremony but she didn't want to think about it, his possibly-very-hot girlfriend was in the chair in front of her, he could be looking at her too.<br/>
The reception was pleasant, Raven saw Alfred and Esme dance a waltz, Raven allowed herself to drink two glasses of wine and Lois wanted her to dance with Jonathan at all costs who, irritated with his mother, decided to take a walk on the long lawn. Raven talked to Alfred for a considerable time giving a hug while drowning her longing for him. Alfred had really grown up in her heart and she really put him on a parental level... Maybe he didn't see her that way, but for her, in a few days Alfred became a father that she never had.</p><p>And it was so pure and magical that she never wanted to miss it again.</p><p>At the hosts' table, all of Bruce's children sat next to Alfred and Esme, along with some girls Raven didn't know and Cassandra sitting next to Damian. The two talked animatedly and every now and then, she would laugh at something that he or any of the four brothers talked about. Raven tried to avoid looking, but she always came back to pay attention to them...</p><p>Damian seemed happy then for her, it was enough...</p><p>Bruce got up from the table, patting a cup while quietly asking for silence and then looked at Alfred.</p><p>- "Dear friends, thank you..." - He smiled in the best Bruce Wayne playboy style of being - "We would like to say thank you to all of you, on behalf of Alfred and his lovely wife, Esme..." - Bruce looked at Esme with a smile - "We already love you, Esme... As part of our big and dysfunctional family..." - He smiled and everyone applauded with smiles. Bruce bowed a half and bowed to Alfred - "Now it's your turn, Al..."</p><p>- "My turn?" - Alfred raised his eyebrow and then nodded yes, standing up with a folded paper in his hands and being applauded again - "Dear friends, 50 years ago, I went to Juliet's house in Verona. I was young and wrote a letter because I needed answers about my fears. And two months ago, I got the answer..." - Alfred unwrapped the paper and looked at Raven - "Without that letter, we wouldn't be here today..." - Raven smiled at Alfred, quickly noticing that Damian was looking at her with the same brilliance from the usual eyes that made her heart on fire, Raven looked away from his, looking back at her own hand - "Raven..."</p><p>- "Hm?"</p><p>- "Do you mind if I read what you wrote to me?" - Raven looked at Alfred standing in front of everyone with the letter she had written in her hands and a bright and contagious smile on her face. She smiled back at Alfred and just waved and allowed him to read the letter - "Okay?" - She nodded. Alfred smiled and turned his eyes to the letter, trembling in his hands - <i>"Dear Alfred..."What" and "If" are not threatening words... But together they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life... "What if?... "What if...?" "What if?"..."</i> - Raven pressed her lips in a thin line, remembering how each word of that letter flowed through her fingers. And how she felt complete when she finished - <i>“I don't know how her story ended, but if what she felt was true love, then it's never too late... If it was true then, why can't it be now? It just takes courage to follow your heart...</i> - Raven kept her head down, reflecting in her own words, why did it hit her so hard? - <i>I don't know what Juliet's love is like, that makes us leave the one we love, that makes crossing oceans. But, I would like to believe that if I felt it, I would have the courage to grab it..."</i> - Raven took a deep breath and smiled weakly, looking at Alfred, Damian looked at her since Alfred started reading the letter and she couldn't say what she felt with the way he looked at her. It was painful and it burned like hot coals. She couldn't feel that way, not when Cassandra was sitting next to him, listening to every word in the letter and he had an arm on the back of her chair. Damian took a deep breath as if he was about to interrupt Alfred, but just straightened his jacket and looked back at Raven - "And Alfred, if you didn't, I hope that one day you will... With all my love, Juliet." - Everyone applauded and Raven didn't know why she was more emotional, she probably felt her own words hit her like a loud slap, and she wanted to cry because it was too late for her to take her own advice. She was thrilled to be responsible for Alfred being happy again and everything that happened there. It was so much that she didn't know what to feel first, except for her wet face again.</p><p>After a few seconds of applause and Alfred and Esme giving a tender kiss, the music played again and people enjoyed the reception again, but Raven felt as if a whirlwind had messed up the entire interior. She needed to get out of there, she needed air and distance from Damian's eyes or she was going to explode.<br/>
She excused herself and left the tables walking aimlessly through the vast garden holding her dress so as not to trip. Damian saw her leave and just whispered an <i>"I'll be back"</i> to his brothers as he stood up following the path she followed.</p><p>Raven ran away from the party, finding a hanging balcony in the house, with its columns surrounded by vines and pines. Raven sat on a wooden white with her hands on her face as she let that bad chest pain come out. Why did she let herself fall in love with Damian? She knew she couldn't have him...</p><p>- "Raven?" - Damian came running, looking everywhere - "Raven!" - He looked everywhere, but couldn't find her - "Raven?!" - Raven looked up from her hands, wondering if she had heard correctly. Was Damian after her? Why? She took a deep breath and stood up, walking to the edge of the balcony, she almost managed to smile because of the irony, he was among garden flowers and she, on a balcony... Sometimes, fate liked to play with her. </p><p>- "Damian?" - Damian spun around looking for her until his eyes landed on the figure of Raven standing on the porch. He gave an ironic laugh that made Raven's heart flutter and she smiled together </p><p>- "Of course... A balcony!"</p><p>- "Well..." - She smiled crookedly, leaning on the pillar with both hands</p><p>- "What are you doing up there?"</p><p>- "Er... I'm leaving..."</p><p>- "Why?"</p><p>- "Because it hurts so much..." - She took a deep breath, her voice broken as she looked at him - "I should have understood before, but I thought I couldn't..." - She swallowed hard - "Tommy and I are no longer together." - Damian's expression changed, what looked like a frown of confusion softened and she smiled a little smile, listening to Raven speak - "And I think part of me came today hoping that..."</p><p>- "Wait! Wait!" - Damian said trying to contain his own animation - "You didn't get married?" - Raven just shook her head, her mouth forming a thin smile</p><p>- "No..." - She took a deep breath - "But... It's too late... It's clearly too late..." - she licked her bottom lip looking at Damian while her tears dripped on the concrete pillar - "And it doesn't matter more, because honestly? I fell in love with you..." - Raven released the last thing that weighed on her back, feeling her heart beat wings in her chest. Damian looked at her as if she were an ethereal goddess that he should adore and when she said that, he couldn't help a huge smile on his face - "I can't believe i said that" - Raven laughed nervously, wiping tears away with her hand - "But, I do... I fell in love with you..." - Damian had a huge smile and his eyes shone a very intense green, like precious emeralds - "But... It doesn't matter to you because you are here with Cassandra..." - The wrinkle of confusion formed again between Damian's eyebrows.<br/>
- "Cassandra?"</p><p>- "And you should go back to her now..."</p><p>- "Cassandra?" - He opened his arms - "Raven, Cassandra is my adopted sister...!" - Raven opened her mouth and closed it again, trying to make a connection - "She is my sister..."</p><p>- "Isn't that illegal? - Raven asked confused - "Even if you aren't blood siblings it is like incest... No?"</p><p>- "What?!" - He grunted and closed his eyes, before looking at her again laughing loudly - "Raven, no... No, no no..." - He shook his head - "Let me explain, Raven... Oh my god, I I'm so dumb... I never explained to you and now you're thinking that ..." - He ran to one of the pines near the bench - "My father adopts children... He has 8 children in total, but only Helena and I are the children of blood... Cass is one of those 6 children that my father adopted... I would never date one of my brothers... And yes, I'm sure it's illegal somewhere"</p><p>- "Oh..." - Raven grunted - "8 children?"</p><p>- "It doesn't matter... Because I have 8 siblings by my side every day..." - Damian grunted smiling, looking at Raven above him, like Juliet waiting for her Romeo on the bench in Verona, the wind blowing in her hair, her face framed by the green of the leaves ... As beautiful as a nymph - "And I don't want to be with any of them..." - He went up some more - "I have 8 noisy and annoying siblings, but there is only one Raven in the world that I want to be with" - Raven's heart was beating painfully in her chest and she couldn't help smiling. She had got it all wrong, and she had never been happier to be wrong in her life. Damian was alone and felt the same way for her, he probably wanted her just as intensely and she was thinking things and making hasty decisions... She should stop acting on impulse - "Now can you please come down...? I want to kiss you and... You know what? Fuck it... I'm going up..." - He crossed his arms and then uncrossed again, looking at the vines and the pines. And then he took off his jacket, untied his tie and started to climb the wall as if it were nothing.</p><p>- "Wait, Damian! Stop! What are you doing?" - He smiled, looking for firm places where he could support himself to climb, almost reaching where Raven was - "Damian, what are you doing?"</p><p>- "Listen very carefully..." - He said smiling - "I live in Gotham, it's not the best place in the world, but it is a beautiful city in many aspects, it's dark and kind of gothic and at times it seems depressing but inside it's full of colors and flavors and places... And I love living here... You live in Metropolis, which is very overrated...."</p><p>- "What?" - Raven said quietly trying not to laugh</p><p>- "Erm..." - He grunted and Raven tilted her head - "We can't cross the bridge every day just to see us, we have obligations to fulfill, you with your job in a petty journal and I, in my father's stupid company... It seems little, but I don't want to see you only on weekends... I want you every day by my side, I want to wake up and see the sun hitting your pretty smashed, sleepy face... And..." - He took a deep breath - "So let's take it off on the coin..."</p><p>- "What are you saying?" - Raven said smiling</p><p>- "That if those terms are unacceptable, I will have the pleasure of leaving Gotham, as long as you are waiting for me on the other side of the bridge..." - Raven chuckled, wiping the tear that ran down her face - "Because the truth, Raven... I'm madly, deeply, vehement, truly in love with you..." - Raven couldn't help the smile on her face, rocking on her heels. She felt like a little girl from school again, feeling all things for a boy and getting carried away by him.</p><p>- "You are?"</p><p>- "I am" - Damian said smiling, nodding - "From the first moment I saw you in that small room with the smell of paper and glue..." - Raven felt like her heart was beating in every corner of her body and that it explodes like a rocket in the sky. She desperately wanted to kiss him and she wanted him to never let her go again. </p><p>
  <i>She would never leave...</i>
</p><p>- "Aren't you going to kiss me?" - She said smiling, bending over on the bench, waiting for him to go up a little further and kiss her.</p><p>- "I will..." - He smiled - "I have been waiting for this since Stafford and"- He tried to climb a little more, but he held the wrong vine. He lost his balance and the last thing Raven saw was Damian falling from the tree.</p><p>- "Damian?!" - She looked at him on the floor, he looked like he was grunting lying on the floor. Raven ran down the stairs worried ... He declares himself and ends up hurting? With how many people in the world can this happen? - "Damian!"</p><p>- "I can't believe I did that," - he mumbled, laughing still lying on the floor and Raven threw herself sitting next to him. Damian looked at her with a smile on his face, pushing a lock of her hair out of the way.</p><p>- "Hey, are you okay?"</p><p>- "Please tell me that none of my brothers saw..." - Raven smiled and looked around, seeing Alfred and Esme in the distance, looking at them both on the floor. She would let him believe that no one had seen.</p><p>- "No... Nobody saw..."</p><p>- "Good..." - he said sliding a hand to her neck, making her shiver every inch of it - "That's good..."</p><p>- "Can you move?" - Raven grunted, tangling her fingers in his hair. He smiled and stroked her cheek with his thumb, his voice almost a whisper.<br/>
- "Just my lips..." - Raven smiled rolling her eyes and bit her bottom lip before letting her lips meet his in a passionate and longing kiss. She felt the volcano of feelings erupt in her heart and this time, she didn't let it stop. She deserved it, she had it for her. The world around her seemed to have stopped spinning and the only thing that mattered was that she was loved by someone who loved her the same way, the love she always thought she didn't deserve but that she was presented with.</p><p>Esme and Alfred walked over to them with a smile on their lips and along with them, everyone else at the party, noting that something had happened there and that someone on the floor was probably hurt. They were surprised to see Raven and Damian kissing on the green lawn, but Raven didn't care. She had the world in her arms and she would never let go.</p><p>She didn't feel abandoned anymore, everything was in place.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10: It's a love story baby just say "yes"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>
    <b>Epilogue</b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>2 years later</i>
</p>
<p>The sunlight fell in Verona and the night came bringing the brightness of the stars in the sky. Birds huddled on the horizon and the sound of the calm of the night arriving announcing that another day was over. But not far from the Adge River, in a courtyard of the home of one of Shakespeare's greatest tragic heroines, the movement was increasing, but this time, not from tourists or people looking for help in their loves, but from people preparing to witness a love being sealed where it all started.</p>
<p>Under the balcony of Juliet's house, an anxious groom walked up and down, waiting for his Juliet to appear.</p>
<p>Under lights that simulated stars and a wall full of love notes, Damian looked nervously in all directions. He knew that Raven was there, hidden somewhere waiting anxiously for him too but, he just couldn't wait to be able to see her. Dick and Tim had already gotten enough water for him more than 3 times and if he drank another drop, he would vomit...</p>
<p>He couldn't throw up there, waiting for the most important day of his life.</p>
<p>He could barely say he missed Raven, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen and entities forced them to stay apart for 3 days when they landed in Verona and he wanted to see at least her face or he felt he was going to explode. Since they decided to start that, there was not a single day that they were separated and now, here they were for 3 days without seeing each other because of a stupid wedding tradition.</p>
<p>They wanted to prevent him from seeing what Raven's dress looked like and they did a great job, Damian couldn't find anything about what it would be like and believe me, he did. But it was as if everything had been locked and locked under seven keys, and now he felt it was going to eat him from the inside out.<br/>
He knew Raven would look beautiful anyway, even wrapped in the white sheets they shared every night, but he wanted to see her... He desperately wanted to see her.</p>
<p>Night fell and the moon rose on the horizon and with it, the patio lights came on showing the path of wild flowers and autumn flowers and the music started playing somewhere where he couldn't remember where. He couldn't even remember exactly where he was, only he needed to breathe... The patio gates opened with such a painful slowness that Damian had to control himself not to run up to him, but everything just hung up when he saw Raven on the other side. She was more beautiful than he could remember. </p>
<p>
  <i>How lucky did he feel to be able to marry her?!</i>
</p>
<p>Raven smiled looking at him, her eyes shone an intense blue like the flowers she carried in a small bouquet dotted with white and blue. Her hair was wrapped in a single braid around her head like that of Juliet's statue next to him. The white dress was of braided straps and a thin fabric and a golden ribbon around her waist that made it look like she flew. with a golden ribbon around her waist that made her look like a Greek goddess in Olympus, like a Roman goddess, Venus herself walking among mere mortals.</p>
<p>He considered himself the luckiest man in the world, having as his wife the most beautiful woman, a goddess with blue eyes like the sea, who shone more than lamps or daylight.</p>
<p>She was so beautiful holding Alfred's hand tightly as she struggled to walk without stumbling without losing contact with Damian's green, watery eyes. He was smiling so happily looking at her that it made her heart burn and melt at the same time. She never thought that anyone would look at her with such love as at that moment when she walked to the music she liked to hear. When she reached Damian at the foot of the altar in a cascade of flowers falling in front of them, Raven knew there was no turning back, her heart would be Damian's forever. She didn't care, she would give anything he asked. Damian smiled, his eyes so sweet they seemed to burst into tears as he stroked her cheek and then he bent and placed a tender kiss on her forehead, and Raven could only think of saying yes to whatever he said to her .</p>
<p>Run away? Yes<br/>
Jump on the Adige River? Yes<br/>
Rob a bank in Bora-Bora? Yes</p>
<p>She never thought she would feel that way about someone and getting married, like that, in that place it just felt right to do. The ceremony was quick, they just wanted to exchange vows in the house where everything had happened, with the blessing of the one who was the reason to bring them together. Raven wouldn't be fully happy now if she had never been to visit Juliet's house, Damian wouldn't have found love if he had not gone looking for someone because of that letter.</p>
<p>Fate and the stars above them were the architects of it all and the two young lovers. They tried their best to be against it, but as Romeo and Juliet their destinies were right and they should be together.</p>
<p>During the reception, after the wedding, Damian pulled Raven to dance, under the light of the stars and the moon, to the sound of distant music while they swayed hand in hand on a balcony. Damian smiled and tilted his head to Raven's ear, resting his hand on the seam of the thin dress that fell around her waist. Her skin seemed to glow with the pallor of the stars above them, illuminating the dark night. Raven was the moon goddess he would love every day, and he would never let her go again.<br/>
Raven smiled, cuddling Damian's chest with her eyes closed, letting herself be taken to her private paradise of cinnamon and soap that she could never get tired of. She didn't need to say anything, they would be together forever, nothing could separate them.</p>
<p>Raven had been made to belong to Damian and Damian felt exactly the same. Nothing in the world could reach them while they were together, nothing in the world could touch them as long as their love radiated that way. Raven never felt alone again and Damian did his best to ensure that she was happy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <i>They lived happily ever after and everything was fine, and everything was in place.</i>
</p>
<p>The end</p>
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